Best Years of Our Lives
by ATsukurite
Summary: New high schoolers at Domino High experience love, danger, and mysterious forces as they become involved in much more than they bargained for. PoVs come in at different times. BakuraXOc RyouXOc MarikXOc DukeXOc OcXOc Rated M for content Not For Kids! ;
1. A New Life

(Alea's POV)

"We're here, Alea," my mom said. "See the Empire State building?" I looked out the car window and saw not only the Empire State building, but all of New York City. "Wow! It's so amazing, Mom," I said. "I'm so excited to be living here." My mom smiled, but then frowned. "What's wrong, Mom?" I asked. My dad sighed. "Your mom still isn't ready for this," he said. "Are you sure you want to do this, sweetie?"

"Dad, this is a once in a lifetime offer for you and Mom," I said. "You should go see the world."

"Well, as long as you're happy," Dad said.

Mom started crying a little. I reached over the seat and hugged her. "Don't be sad, Mom," I comforted. "It's just hard not having you with us," she said. "You're the light of our lives."

"Just pretend it's a long vacation…a very long vacation," I said. "I'll Skype you every day and send pictures of my new life."

"And make sure you won't be a pain to Charlotte," Dad said. "Dad, you know I won't," I replied. Charlotte was the nanny/maid that Mom and Dad hired to watch over me until I was 18. "I know you have a tendency to have wild parties when we're not home, but try to restrain yourself," Dad joked. "Dad! I do not throw wild parties!" I exclaimed, laughing. We finally drove into the city and began to search for the apartment building.

"There it is," Mom said pointing to one. "Mom, that's not the Belmont Building," I corrected. "Now I'm worried you're going to get lost here," Dad said. "Well, we'll take a walk around the city after we unpack," I said. "I'm sure I'll be able to figure things out then." Finally, we found it. "Well, Alea, are you ready to see your penthouse?" Dad asked. "I've been ready since you told me about it," I replied. While Dad went in to get the apartment keys, a woman rushed out and hugged Mom and me. "Oh, it's so nice to finally meet you," she said. "Oh, you must be Charlotte," Mom said. "Yes," the woman replied. "You must be Alea."

"Yep, that's me," I said. "Oh my, you have such pretty eyes," Charlotte said. "Thank you," I said.

(Okay, unless you've read my profile, Alea has different colored irises, green right and deep red left)

"I hope you don't mind, but I already let myself into the apartment to put all the essentials in, you know, pots, silverware, dishes," Charlotte said. "Oh, that's great," Mom said. "Thank you very much."

"Hey, guys!" Dad said, coming back with the keys. "Let's go check out Alea's apartment." We all rushed to the elevator and went to the very top floor. "Here it is," I said. "Apartment 801." Dad handed me the keys and I unlocked the door. When I opened it and looked inside, I was stunned. It was the largest, most luxurious penthouse I had ever seen. "Wow! This is so…so…Oh! I can't even describe it," I said ecstatically. "Go check out your room," Dad said. I ran upstairs threw open the door of the first room I saw. I was rendered speechless. My new room was painted a deep red and with black, gold, and silver furniture. My bed had scarlet and black sheets with a black canopy. "Oh my God! It's perfect!" I exclaimed. "Well, let's move all your stuff in," Dad said.

After we unloaded all of the boxes, we decided to spend the rest of the day walking around New York City. "Where would you like to go first, sweetie?" Mom asked. "Oo, how about Central Park," I said. As we waited in the elevator, it stopped on one floor and the doors opened to reveal two boys with white hair who appeared to be twins. The only differences, besides their obvious clothing style, were that one had relaxed hair and childish eyes while the other had erratic hair and serious eyes. They entered the elevator and we all stood in silence.

The one with child-like features looked like he was about to say something, but he just sighed instead. I looked at the other one and saw that he was looking right at me. I was trapped by his light brown eyes, which seemed to soften the more he looked at me. I finally broke from the trance and looked up at the floor numbers. Finally, we reached the ground floor. I began to race towards the lobby doors so I could finally be out in the city air, but as I run out of the elevator I tripped and started falling towards the ground. However, before I could hit the floor someone caught me.


	2. When We First Met

(Alea's POV)

"Are you okay?" a male British voice asked. "Yeah, thanks," I replied as he lifted me up to my feet. When I looked to see who it was, I was a bit surprised. It was the taller twin that was in the elevator with me a second ago. "Oh! Hello," I said. "Nice catch there, boy," Dad said. "You alright, Alea?"

"Of course," I replied. "Just a little shocked from almost face planting into the floor…By the way, thanks again, umm…"

"Bakura. Bakura Touzoku," the boy said. "Where's the other one?" Mom asked. "Bakura, wait up!" another British voice called out. It was the other twin running towards us. But just as he got to us, he slipped and fell flat on his back, letting out a loud "Ouch!"

"Oh, gosh! It's contagious," I said. The boy sat up and rubbed his hurt bottom. "Ryou, honestly," Bakura said, annoyed. "Our first day here and you're already making a fool of yourself."

"Sorry, I didn't see the 'Wet Floor' sign," Ryou said, blushing. He stood up and adjusted his sweater vest. "A little warm out to be wearing wool, don't you think?" I said. Ryou blushed even more. "Oh! Not that there's anything wrong with it," I quickly said. "I think it's adorable." He smiled and I could see his innocent eyes brighten. "So, you're new here, too?" I asked. "Yes, we moved in last night," Bakura replied. "What about you?"

"About two hours ago, actually," I explained. "We drove all the way from Orlando."

"We flew here from England," Ryou said. "And we were just about to take a walk around the city."

"Really? So are we," I said. "Would you…like to come with us?"

"Certainly," Bakura answered rather quickly. "That would alright, right, Mom?" I half asked half begged. "Of course," she replied. "Alrighty then, let's go," I said. Both Bakura and Ryou offered me their arm in a gentlemanly fashion and I blushed heavily. They gave each other competitive glares. To break the tension, I took both their arms. We all walked out the door and headed to Central Park.

(Bakura's POV)

I looked at my younger brother and glared at him. Why was it always him to make friends with people first. Well, this time it was my turn. "So, Alea," I began. "What's it like in Orlando?"

"Oh, it's very tropical with many palm trees and beaches," she said. "The weather changes constantly during the course of a single day. One moment it could be sunny and cloudless, the next it could be pouring down rain."

"Interesting, it's just like that in England…minus the palm trees and tropical climate," I said. "I agree, I've been there," she chimmed. "You've been to England?" I asked, surprised. "Yes, last year, as a matter of fact," she explained. "Oo, what did you think of it?" Ryou asked excitedly. "Did you see Big Ben, or the Eye of London, or the Tower of London, or the-''

"Ryou! Quit bombarding her with so many questions," I scolded. "I'm sure she has seen all of that." He blushed and looked away. Alea seemed a little relieved. Ryou. He was always overwhelming people with his curiosity. It annoyed me.

(Alea's POV)

I was relieved when Bakura stepped in and stopped Ryou's questioning. But I couldn't help but pity him. He seemed very sensitive. I kind of liked it. But Bakura seemed to never get a word in with Ryou's spontaneous personality. I pitied him, too. "So…did you both have many friends in England?" I asked. Dismal looks came across their faces. "Many isn't exactly the word I would use," Ryou said. "Ryou, be honest. We didn't have any friends," Bakura said. "You know it to be true. You especially."

"…I know," Ryou said quietly. 'Oh, gosh. They must've been very lonely,' I thought. "Well, why don't you count me as your very first friend in the United States?" I said, cheerfully. Their faces seemed to light up instantly. "Thank you, Alea," they said in unison. "No problem," I replied. "You deserve it."

"Our first day and we're all already making new friends," Dad said. We all nodded in agreement. We finally reached Central Park and began walking down the concrete pathway into the peaceful sanctuary.


	3. Our First Day

(Alea's POV)

"Oh, gosh!" I said (And, yes, that's her favorite thing to say when excited). "I don't know where to go first." "Oo, how about the zoo?" Ryou asked, bouncing up and down like a little puppy. "Okay, sure," I replied. As we headed towards the gates, something hard hit me in the head. "Ouch!" I exclaimed. "Oh, geez, I'm so sorry about that," someone with a Brooklyn accent apologized. I looked towards the basketball courts and saw a tall boy with blonde hair and hazel eyes. "Oh, it's fine," I said. "A minor hit to the head won't kill me."

He walked over and retrieved the basketball. As he stood back up from getting it, he looked at me and sort of started staring at me. "What?" I asked. He shook himself out of his trance. "Nothing," he said. "It's just…I've never anyone with eyes like yours…its weird." I blushed a little. "N-Not that they're bad," he recovered. "I mean, I think they're really pretty." I blushed even more. "By the way, I'm Joey Wheeler," he said. "Alea Tsukurite," I replied. "And this is Bakura and Ryou Touzoku." "Hi," they said in unison.

"Anyway, uh, that ball hit you pretty hard…let me make it up to you," Joey offered. "Oh, its okay, you don't have to," I said. "No, really," he pressed. "Meet me at the Kame Game shop later today." "Alright, can Bakura and Ryou come, too?" I asked. "Well…" he started to say. I put on my famous "Puss in Boots" eyes. "Sure," he said, unable to resist my cuteness. "Yay!" I said. "Well, see ya later, Joey." "You, too," he replied. He ran back to the court and joined another boy with brown hair made into one spike. "Wow, you're meeting all kinds of cute boys today," Mom whispered. "Mom, knock it off," I said, annoyed.

We entered the gates of the Central Park Zoo, paid our admission, and started looking at exhibits. The first stop was the polar bears. We watched them for at least 45 minutes, laughing at their crazy antics; bouncing around a beach ball, wrestling each other. We walked over to the penguins and I began to laugh a little. "What's so funny?" Bakura asked. "You know what I bet they're thinking right now?" I said. "What?" Ryou asked. "Just smile and wave, boys," I replied with a laugh. We all laughed. We spent a good deration of the afternoon at the zoo, checking out all the exhibits and viewing all the animals.

At one point, Dad offered to buy us all ice cream. While we were eating, Mom offered me some of hers and just as I was about to get a lick, she smashed it into my face, coating my nose and mouth with creamy, melting soft-serve. Bakura began to laugh uncontrollably. "Oh, you think that's funny, huh?" I said. I took a spoonful of my sundae and slingshot it onto his face. "See how you like it," I said triumphantly. Ryou began giggling. Bakura glared at his brother, then took his (Ryou's) own bowl of ice cream smashed it all over his face like a cream pie. Mom and Dad, who hadn't had anything done to them, laughed at us. The three of us then decided to gang up on them. We took our ice cream and coated their faces with running, sticky goop. "Okay, okay, enough!" Dad said, wiping ice cream off his face. We all hurried to the nearest restroom to clean off our faces.

"So," Mom said. "So," I repeated. "Interesting how you and those boys are getting so close over the course of a few hours," she said. "Oh, quit it, Mom," I said. "I'm just getting to know my neighbors." We all rejoined outside the zoo. "So, where to next?" Dad asked. "Well, that boy, Joey, told me to meet him at the game shop later today," I said. "How about we go there?" "Wherever you want, sweetie," Mom said. We started towards the game shop.

However, we got lost along the way. "Oh, why didn't I ask for directions," I scolded myself. "Why don't we just ask someone?" Ryou suggested. "Well, there's a million people out here to choose from and I bet half of them won't even know," Bakura said. I looked around to find a trustworthy face. Soon, my eyes landed on a girl about my age with short brown hair and blue eyes. I quickly went up to her. "Excuse me," I said politely, "Do you know where the Kame Game Shop is?" "Yeah, in fact I was heading there myself," she said kindly, "Would you guys like to come with me?" "Sure," we all said simultaneously.

"So, what are your names?" "I'm Alea Tsukurite, this is my mom and dad, Kat and Mark Tsukurite." "Hello." "And these are my neighbors, Bakura and Ryou Touzoku." "Nice to meet you all, my name is Tea Gardner…so why are you heading to the game shop." "A guy named Joey invited me after accidentally hitting me in the head with a basketball." Tea rolled her eyes, annoyed. "I always tell him to be careful, but he never listens," she said. "Oh, you know him?" I asked. "Yeah, we've been friends since freshman year," she replied. "Oh," I said. "By the way, what school do you go to?" "Domino High," Tea replied. "No way! That's awesome. Bakura, Ryou, and I are starting our second year of high school there," I said. "Cool, maybe I can show you guys around sometime," Tea said. "Thank you," I said.

We walked for about ten minutes until we reached a small, two-story building. "Is this the game shop?" Bakura asked. "Yeah, it's not much, but it's still cool," Tea said. "My best friend, Yugi Moto, his grandpa owns this shop." As we walked in, we were greeted by a short, elderly man. "Hello, Tea," he said. "I see you've brought some friends with you." "Yeah, Alea here was supposed to meet Joey and-" "Alea!" a familiar Brooklyn voice called out. I looked past the sales counter and saw Joey standing there. "I'm glad you made it," he said. "Joey told me he wanted to give you a free Duel Monsters pack after having hit you with a basketball," Mr. Moto said. "Well, I mean, I am paying for it," Joey said. "No, you really don't have to," I said. "Unfortunately, the more you say no, the more he'll want to make it up to you," an unfamiliar voice said.

I looked behind Joey and saw a smaller boy with red, black, and blonde spiked hair and large magenta eyes. "I'm Yugi Moto by the way," he said. We shook hands. "Nice to meet you," I said. "I'm Alea Tsukurite." "Joey has been talking all afternoon about you," Yugi said. "Oh…he has," I said, blushing. "Yeah, in fact, you're all that's been on his mind." Joey became red in the face. "It's true," yet another voice said. Standing next Yugi was the same boy with brown, single-spiked hair I saw with Joey earlier that day. "It was getting pretty annoying, actually." "Can it, Tristan," Joey said angrily. I giggled.

Just then, my eyes landed on a nearby poster. On it was a winged female clad in violet and fluorite colored armor. Next to it was what looked like a mirror image of itself, except it was clad in black and crimson armor and had bat wings. "What is that?" I asked in amazement. "That is one of the rarest cards in all of Duel Monsters," Mr. Moto explained. "It's called 'Amisi, Angel of Heaven'." (Yes, I made this up myself) "But if you play it a different way, it's called 'Destria, Angel of Hell'." "Wow, that is definitely a card I want," I said to myself. I looked among the many packs of duel monsters cards until I found one that seemed promising. "I think I'll get this one, Joey," I said. "Alright, let's see what cards you got," he said.

I practically ripped the pack open and looked anxiously through the cards. There were some good cards, but I didn't see the one I wanted. Well, until I got to the last one. I was nearly speechless. I had the rarest card in all of Duel Monsters. "I got it," I said, practically breathless. "Wow…check it out, guys! Lea got the rarest card ever!" Joey exclaimed. "That's so awesome, Alea," Yugi said. "It's not every day someone gets a rare card." "Hey, Alea," Mom said. "We need to get going, we have to go to registration tomorrow morning." I looked at my watch. It read 6 o'clock. "Oh, right! Sorry, guys, we have to go," I said. "But I'll see you tomorrow." I grabbed Bakura and Ryou by their arms and we walked out of the game shop.

We got a quick dinner at Katz's Deli and went back to the Bellmont Building. As we were in the elevator, the Touzoku brothers got off on their floor. "See you guys tomorrow, right?" I asked. "Of course," Ryou said. "Good night, Alea," Bakura said. "Good night you two," I replied.

We finally reached the tenth floor and entered my room. "Well, good night Mom and Dad," I said. "Good night, sweetie," they said. I went into my new bedroom, changed into my black PJs, and got in bed. I fell asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.


	4. Why So Early?

(Bakura's POV)

I was still asleep when my pest of a brother came in saying, "Rise and shine, Bakura! It's time to go to school registration!" His enthusiasm was completely unnecessary. I was not excited about registering for school…at 7 freakin' 30 in the bloody morning! "Come on, Bakura! We have to get ready," Ryou urged. I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. Unfortunately, I missed. I turned the opposite way, groaning in agitation.

I heard Ryou walk across the room to the window. Suddenly, my bedroom was flooded with bright, irritating light. "Ah! Look at that beautiful sun!" Ryou exclaimed happily. Now my agitation had shot through the roof. "Ryou! You little pest!" I shouted. "Why must you do this to me? Get out of my room before I kill you!"

Ryou got a little pale in the face, but he quickly faded back to calm and smiling. "Well, I guess I'll be the only one to meet Alea there," he said slyly. "She'll sure be disappointed that you couldn't make it." He sure knew how to push my buttons, but he also knew how to lure me into doing things I didn't want to. I rolled out of bed and got ready.

(Alea's POV)

"Come on, Alea! We can't keep Charlotte waiting!" Dad called from downstairs. I quickly put on my chocker and black fingerless gloves and made my way down to the bottom floor of my penthouse. "Now, don't forget to meet us back here at six," Mom said. "I know, I know," I said. "And you don't forget my school supply list."

"Okay, kiddo, we'll see you later," Dad said. "See you later," I said before leaving out the door.

As I waited in the elevator, it stopped just a couple floors above Ryou and Bakura's floor. When the doors opened, a boy my age with spikey light brown hair and brown eyes stepped in. "Good morning," he said. I just smiled politely. "I've never seen you around here before," he said. "You must be new here."

"Yeah, I just moved here from Florida yesterday," I said. "I'm Alea Tsukurite, by the way."

"Devon. Devon Hammersmith," he said, shaking my hand. "Interesting eye color."

"Oh…thanks," I blushed. Just then the doors opened again and Bakura and Ryou walked in. "Morning, you two," I greeted. "Though, I wish it wasn't," Bakura moaned. Ryou elbowed him. "Don't act rude," he mouthed to him. "Well, I couldn't agree with you more, Bakura," I said. "I do NOT do mornings."

"I think early morning is a great time of day," Devon said. "So do I," Ryou agreed. "In fact, it's my favorite."

"Well, I think we know who the light dwellers and creatures of the night are," I whispered to Bakura. "No kidding," he agreed. "If the obvious difference in clothing style doesn't tip them off, that will." I giggled. Finally, we reached the lobby. "Oh, I totally forgot to ask you, Devon!" I said. "Are you, by chance, going to Domino High registration?"

"Nah, I did that ahead of time," he replied. "Alright, well, see you soon," I said. "You, too," he said. As I started heading towards the garage, Ryou and Bakura headed in the opposite direction. "Wait," I called. "Do you need a ride...I mean, Charlotte doesn't mind a few extra people."

"Uh, sure…thank you," Ryou said. We walked into the garage where we found Charlotte standing next to her red Chevrolet. "Well, well, looks like we got a couple extra passengers," she said. "You don't mind, do you?" I asked. "Not at all," Charlotte replied, smiling. "Alea, I almost forgot, I want you to meet my daughter, Alex." Standing behind her was a girl at least a year older than me with scarlet hair and sun colored eyes. She wore a yellow blouse, an orange pleated skirt, and what looked like hiking boots. "Hello," she said politely.

"Alex is also going to Domino High," Charlotte explained. "She'll be a junior this year and…well, we can talk more about it on the way." We piled into the car and headed towards the school. "So, Alex, how long have you lived here?" I asked. "About two years," she replied. "Ever since my dad moved here for his business."

"Oh, what kind of business does he do?"

"He runs his own doll making industry."

"You mean, like, children's dolls?"

"Yeah, and collector dolls…most of them are gothic Lolita dolls, so they're for people who are going to take good care of them."

"That's cool."

"Alex is going to start working in her father's workshop right after the school year starts," Charlotte said. "She's been so interested in it ever since she was little." I could see Alex blush in the rearview mirror. "Mom," she said in an annoyed tone. "I actually think that's really neat," I said. "As do I," Ryou chimed. "I'd like to visit your shop sometime." "Maybe after school tomorrow," Charlotte suggested. "Yeah, that would be great," I said. "I could invite Joey and his friends, too."

"You know Joey Wheeler?" Alex asked. "Yeah, we met him yesterday. Do you?" I replied. "Yes, he's the drummer in Tsukiko's band, The Moonlit Knights" Alex said. "Oh, who's Tsukiko?" I asked. "Just…you know…my 'special' friend," she replied. "Ah, I gotcha'," I said, winking and making an "OK" sign with my hand. We finally arrived at the school.

We followed the crowd of students into the main lobby, where there were faculty members directing students left and right. "Okay, sophomores to the gym!" one member directed. "Juniors, go to the cafeteria!" another ordered. "Well, youngest first," Charlotte said. We followed her to the gym where we got our papers and handed in our proofs of residence. We received our uniforms and our schedules. My uniform and Bakura's were different than most everyone else's. They were the color of the schools team, the Jaguars. Mine was a purple blazer with a black skirt and bow. Every other girl had a uniform that was a pink blazer with a blue skirt and bow. Bakura's uniform was black while every other boys' was blue.

Just then, I saw familiar multicolored spiked hair. "Yugi!" I called out. He saw me and rushed over to me. "Alea, nice to see you here," he said. "You, too, Alex." Alex just smiled. "Well, I'm going to get Alex registered," Charlotte said. "Meet me out front when you guys are ready to go." "Okay, Mom," Alex said.

"So, Alea, what classes do you have?" Yugi asked. "Let's see, I have…Art II, Biology, Creative Writing, World History, Lifetime Sports, Geometry, and English 10 Honors," I said. Bakura looked at his schedule, a perplexed look on his face. "Ironically, those are the same classes I have," he said. "No way," I said. I looked at his schedule. It was practically an exact copy of mine. Well, except he had Study Hall instead of Lifetime Sports.

"Hey, you guys want a tour of the school?" Yugi offered. "Sure," I replied. We exited the gym and started walking. Yugi and Alex showed us the cafeteria, art and business hall, science and math hall, and everything in between.

While we were walking back to the entrance, some black-haired girl with disgusting blonde highlights and a bad tan "accidentally" bumped into me, knocking all my papers and uniform to the floor. "Watch where you're going," she said harshly.

I tried to contain myself from lashing out at her and picked up my stuff. "Who in the hell was that?" Bakura said. "That…was the Queen of Evil herself," Alex said. "Valorie White." "Well, Queen of Bitch sounds more appropriate," I said. "When you've been here as long as we have, Queen of Evil is the most appropriate name," Yugi said.

We made our way outside, where a familiar group was waiting.


	5. Time Spent with New Friends

(Joey's POV)

"Hey, Lea! Over here!" I called out. She noticed me and started walking in my direction, followed by Yugi, Alex, and those twins she was with the day before. As she drew closer, I started getting a funny feeling in my gut, like there were a million butterflies in it. My heart began to race and my palms felt sweaty. Why was I feeling this way? I did my best to hide it from everyone.

"Hey, Joey, I was wondering when I'd see you today," Alea said. "Yeah, you, too," I said, shaking her hand (couldn't think of anything else to do). "Why are your hands wet?" she asked. I quickly pulled my hand away. "Uh…yeah, I just washed my hands, that's why," I quickly said. Alea just nodded her head and wiped her hand on her shirt. "Hey, I'm gonna see you guys at school tomorrow, kay," Alex said. "Alright," I said. "Tell Tsukiko I'm gonna be late to practice." Alex got in the car with Charlotte and drove away.

"So, what's up?" she asked. "Well, we thought we would show you around town today," Tristan said. "I mean, we did say that we would." "That sounds great," Alea said happily. "Where to first?" "5th Avenue!" Tea exclaimed. "Well, I actually wanted to go the Empire State Building," _Yes! Saved! _I thought. "Well, then, let's get going," I said, putting my hand on Alea's shoulder. I started walking. "Joey… it's the other way," Tea said. I turned around. "Like I said, let's get going," I recovered. "I think someone has a crush," Tristan joked. I let go of Alea. "Shut up," I grumbled.

(Alea's POV)

I wasn't used to so much attention. I only had a few friends in Florida, but here in New York I had an entire group on the first day. It was great. And on top of that, they didn't care that I dressed Goth or had strange interests.

As we headed towards the Empire State Building, we passed a huge building with the letters "KC" creatively placed on the front. "What's that?" I asked. "Oh, that?" Yugi said. "That's the Kaiba Corp. building." "Yeah, the guy who owns it is Seto Kaiba," Joey said in a disgusted tone. "He's the biggest jerk that ever walked the face of the earth." "Yikes," I said. "He's rich, but he has the biggest ego in the world," Tea added. "Oh my," Ryou said. "Is he like Scrooge, or something?" Bakura asked. "Yeah, except he's not an old man, he's our age," Tristan explained. "Please tell me he doesn't go to our school," Bakura said. Everyone went silent. "Great," Bakura groaned. "Well, let's not hang around here too long," Yugi said. "Good idea," I agreed. We continued walking towards our destination.

When we reached the enormous building we instantly went inside and got into an elevator. "So have you guys been up here a lot?" I asked. "Yeah," Yugi replied. "And I think you're really gonna love the view…but that's not coming from experience…cause I'm a little afraid of heights." "Well, I don't blame you," I said. "My advice," Bakura said. "Look forward, not down." "I will try that," I said. The elevator opened and we stepped out into the open roof of the building. Like Bakura suggested, I looked out into the city. It was breathtaking.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "This is amazing!" "Yeah, you can just tell me about it after you're done," Ryou said. "I can't do it." "Ryou, don't be such a baby," Bakura said. We took him by the arms and put him up against the railing. He looked out then down and suddenly fell backward. I couldn't help but laugh. He fainted! "Oh, shit!" Joey said. "What happened to him?" "He fainted from the height," Bakura said. "I know what will wake him up, though." He went inside the gift shop and came back out with a bar of chocolate. He opened it and put it under Ryou's nose. He quickly came to and grabbed the chocolate bar.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else," I said. "What did you have in mind?" Yugi asked. "How about Little Italy and Chinatown," I suggested. "Alright." We exited the building and headed towards Little Italy. Suddenly, my stomach started growling. "How about we get some lunch," I said. "Yeah, I'm starving," Joey agreed. We found a small Italian restaurant and got a large table.

"So, Lea," Joey said. "I've been meaning to ask you, why are your eyes two different colors?" I paused for a moment. It was a bit of a sore subject, but I was glad my parents weren't present at the moment. "I never really talk about it," I said. "But I guess I could stand to talk about it now." The group was all ears. "Well, when I was born I had a twin," I started. "But we were conjoined at the head and the doctor said that it was impossible for us to live like that, so they had to separate us. Now, when we were born I had green eyes and, as I was told, she had deep red eyes. They did the operation and were successful, but not so much on my twin's part. She died after the surgery and my parents said that when I opened my eyes, my left one had been changed to deep red, as if a part of my twin had passed into me."

Everyone was dead silent and just staring at me. "You're joking, right?" Tristan said. "It's true," I replied. "I'm sorry," Tea said. "Well, sometimes I think my twin always knew she would die, even though she was not even a week old, and she wanted me to live for her," I said. "She must've really cared about you," Bakura said. "Yeah, even if she didn't know me at all," I said. "But enough about me, what about you all? Any interesting stuff I need to know about my new besties?"

"Well, I happen to be in a band," Joey gloated. "I'm the drummer." "Yeah, and his name is Underdog," Tristan joked. "Shut it, Tristan!" Joey said angrily. "It's Artemis!" I giggled to myself. Poor Joey! He was picked on so much. "Well, what about you, Tristan?" I asked. "Well, I…um…I'm…uh." He couldn't seem to think of anything. "Oh! I'm on the wrestling team," he finally said. "That's cool, but I prefer bands," I said. Joey smirked at Tristan and Tristan shot him a jealous glance. "Are they always like this?" I whispered to Tea. "Always," she replied.

They brought us our food and, forgetting my manners, I didn't bother putting my napkin in my lap and started slurping up my pasta. I looked up to see if anyone disapproved, but, to my surprise, I wasn't the only one. Joey, Tristan, and Ryou had done the same thing. Leaving behind my etiquette, I continued eating.

"Boy, I am stuffed," Joey said. "Ditto," I chimed. The waitress brought us our check. I was about to pull out my wallet when Tea stopped me. "Don't worry, I'll get," she said. "Oh, thank you, Tea," I said. She just smiled. "Yeah, I'd pay, but I'm totally broke," Joey said. "Sure you are," Tea grumbled. We left the restaurant and started walking around.

(FF to 3:00 pm)

"Wow, Little Italy was awesome," I said. "Yes, it's a really cool place," Ryou said. "Well, that's nothing compared to Chinatown," Yugi said. When we got out of the cab and I was overcome by Asia. "Whoa! This place is awesome!" I exclaimed.

We toured around the area for a long time until I found a Chinese/Japanese fashion shop. I instantly went inside and started trying on kimono shirts. I couldn't decide on either a black and red one or a purple, white, and fluorite one. "Which one do you think, Ryou?" I asked, though I didn't expect a thorough answer. "Well, the red and black one is nice, but the other one really goes well with your eyes, and it will go really well with black or white pants," he replied.

I was a little taken aback. He gave a well analyzed opinion on fashion, he was over the top cute, and had a slightly high-pitched voice. One question instantly popped into my head. _Could he be…gay?_ I shook it off and decided to by the one Ryou suggested. To add to the purchase, I bought a silver fan with purple and aqua flowers on it. We exited the shop and saw that it was getting dark. I looked at my watch. It read 5:30. "Oh, gosh! I need to get home," I said. "Well, I hate to leave you all here, but I'll see you guys tomorrow, right?" "Definitely," Yugi said. "Okay, bye," I said. Bakura, Ryou, and I got a cab and headed back to the apartment.

When we stepped out, my parents were standing outside. "6:00 right on the dot," Dad said. "Didn't want to worry you," I joked. "Did you have a good time?" Mom asked. "Oh, yeah," I replied.

"Were you with those kids you met yesterday?"

"Actually, yes."

"Well, they seem like a good group."

"Good? They're great."

"I'm trusting you'll be in good hands here while we're gone."

"You bet!"

"Well, I think Ryou and I should get up to our room," Bakura said. "See you at school, Alea." "You, too," I said. The got into the elevator and left. "Alea, we got you a present while we were out," Mom said. "Really? Where is it?" I asked, getting exited. After getting a penthouse, I had to expect the expected. We went upstairs and entered the penthouse. Suddenly, I was surprised by a bark and a meow. I gasped as I saw what it was. It was a black cat and a small black Pomeranian. "Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed. "Thank you! Thank you! They're soooooo cute!" "We thought you'd love them," Mom said. "What are you going to name them?" "I think I'll name the cat Midnight, and I'll name the pom Toph," I said. "Those are good names," Dad said. I lovingly cuddled my two new pets.

We ate Chinese take-out for dinner and then I had to go to bed so I could be ready for school. But I was nervous. Tomorrow was the day I would be separated from my parents for longer than I ever had before.


	6. Dreams

(Alea's POV)

***In Dream* **The scene came into view. I was in another world. An ancient one. I seemed to be in someone's room.

I could hear a faint crying sound. I looked towards the bed and saw a small figure. When I looked closer, I realized it was me. She wore what looked like an Ancient Egyptian dress with pieces of gold. She looked like a princess. She was on her stomach with her face buried in a pillow.

"Excuse me, are you okay?" I asked. She didn't seem to hear me. I put my hand on her shoulder, but it went right through it, like I was a ghost. Suddenly, she looked up and ran to the balcony. I quickly followed her. She looked down, contemplating what she was seeing. She did this for about five minutes before finally moving. She climbed up onto the railing and looked down. "Good-bye," she said, seemingly to the world. She leaned forward and started to fall. "No! Stop!" I screamed. ***End Dream***

I shot up in bed, sweating and breathing heavily. It was the same dream every night. An Ancient Egyptian princess who looked like me about to commit suicide. That's as far as the dream always went. I never knew if there was anyone to ever save her. Midnight and Toph jumped onto the bed and licked my face, seeming to know that I was stressed. "It's okay," I said. "Just a bad dream." I lay back down and closed my eyes. However, that dream wasn't the only one I had every night. Once I went back to sleep, another one would start.

***In Dream*** I was in a hall of mirrors, each with a different symbol on the frame. But whenever I looked into one, I did not see my own reflection. Instead, I saw the faces and bodies of other people. But 'people' wasn't the right word. More like evil spirits. Men and women who were each more scary than the last. Three caught my eye in particular.

One was a man with extremely spikey platinum-blonde hair and veins bulging from his face. It was absolutely disgusting. The second was a familiar girl with dark brown hair with icky blonde highlights and a bad tan. It was Valorie White. The third took me completely by surprise. It was Bakura. Only his eyes were pure gold and sharper and he had a wicked grin on his face. I quickly continued down the hallway.

Finally, I reached the end where a huge mirror floated in mid-air. I looked into it and saw my own reflection. Only it wasn't me. This person had deep red eyes and had large bat wings. As hell-like as she seemed, her face had an expression of desperation and pleading. Her mouth moved, but I couldn't hear her speak. "What?" I asked. I tried to read her lip movements and saw that she was saying "Help me." I didn't know what to do. She throw herself repeatedly against the mirror like a bird in a cage. She sank to her knees and started shaking. Before I could do anything to help, I felt myself being pulled back. I was flying backwards down the hall until I shot up a second time in bed. ***End Dream***

I heard my alarm clock going off. I slammed my hand down on it and got up.


	7. School Time part 1

(Alea's POV)

I put on my uniform. I did like it, but even though it was a special style uniform, it still seemed too boring. I then got an idea. I opened my vanity and took out a silver rose pin, four small rose cuff links, and a small silver chain. I clipped the chain on the left pocket of my blazer and clipped the other end to a pleat on my skirt. I took the four rose cuff links and put two on each blazer sleeve. Finally, I took the rose pin and stuck it on the knot of my bow. "Ah, perfect," I said to myself. To top it off, I decided not wear the normal Mary Jane shoes everyone else wore and instead put on knee-high converses.

I went downstairs to eat my breakfast. "Wow…um…a little hard core, don't you think, Alea?" Mom said. "What? I want people to know I'm unique," I said. "Besides, my group seems to be the cool group."

"Well, as long as you keep it to a minimum," Dad said. I rolled my eyes. "Alea," Mom said. "We have to leave right after you get out of school." My heart sank a little. It was coming fast. "Right," I said. I forced myself not to let any tears fall; I didn't want to smear my eye makeup. "I can't go through security with you…will you call as soon as you get to Amsterdam?" I asked. "Of course," Dad said.

I looked at the clock. "Oh, crap! It's 6:30 already?" I exclaimed. "We gotta get going." I grabbed a cereal bar and my briefcase (which, FYI, looks like the doll cases from Rozen Maiden) and we got into the elevator.

"Oh! I forgot," I said. "Bakura and Ryou will need a ride to school." "Alright," Dad said. "Maybe you can tell us about your school plans on the way."

"Well…Bakura isn't very talkative in the morning, but Ryou is," I said. "I'd rather not talk either." We reached Bakura and Ryou's floor and they stepped into the elevator. "Ah, why didn't I think of that," Bakura said. "I didn't know we could add stuff to our uniform."

"Yep," I said. "Oh well, there's always tomorrow."

We reached the lobby and went into the garage. As I was about to get into the car, I stumbled on some cracked asphalt and accidentally dropped my briefcase. "Oh, let me get it," Bakura said, bending down to pick it up. "It's okay, I got it," I said, bending down, too. As we both reached for the handle, we grabbed it at the same time, causing Bakura's hand to land over mine. We looked up at each other for a long moment. We snapped out of it and stood up quickly, both blushing. I got into the car before either of us could say another word. I stayed silent the entire way to school.

"We'll be back to pick you up at 2:00," Mom said. "Okay," I said quietly. "Love you." "Love you, too, sweetie," Mom said. We walked into the school and met up with our group.

Ironically, we all had the same homeroom. However, we also had the same homeroom as Valorie White and her group of friends, whose names were, as Tea told me, Monica, Amber, and Iesha. Monica was a tall, tan girl with wavy dirty-blonde hair. She wore way too much makeup. Amber was a Japanese-looking girl with slick black hair and coal black eyes. You could tell that she was just as bulimic as Valorie. Iesha was a slightly muscular black girl with curly black hair and brown eyes. She seemed to be the kind that scans the entire room a picks out those she thinks are "trash". I could tell this year was going to be interesting.

Just then, a tall boy with brown hair and blue eyes walked in and all eyes fell on him. However, no one made eye contact. "Who's that?" I asked Joey. "That is the infamous Seto Kaiba," he replied. So this was Seto Kaiba. I looked him over. He didn't seem as bad as they said he was. I actually had to admit he was a little cute.

Valorie caught me eyeing him and she quickly got up, walked over to him, and planted a big kiss on him. Oh, how that made me want to vomit. Now I really pitied him. He was Valorie's boyfriend. "Okay, you two, that's quite enough," a woman said sternly. Seto and Valorie went to their seats.

"Hello, class," the woman said. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Mrs. Wolf." Mrs. Wolf was a woman in either her late 30s or early 40s with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. She took attendance.

Just then, the TV monitor came on and words moved across the screen saying "DHS News 7". Two boys, the newscasters, appeared on screen. They introduced themselves as Trevor Bennet and Tsukiko Nightshade. Tsukiko caught my eye particularly. He had silver hair and dark blue eyes. There was something strange about him, but I couldn't put my finger on it. His skin seemed absolutely flawless and had no signs of facial hair and his voice seemed…different than normal. Maybe he was just one of those perfect guys.

They filled us in on clubs, new rules and regulations, and after school activities. They wished us good luck and the screen turned off and the bell rang for class. Bakura and I headed to our first class of the day: World History.

Paper with our names had been placed on each desk. I sat close to the front and Bakura sat two rows down from me. Just then, a girl wearing the same kind of uniform as me entered and took the seat in front of me. She had black hair with purple streaks, olive skin, and light brown eyes.

"Hey, nice touch," she said, referring to the accessories on my uniform. "Thanks," I replied. "You're going to need to tell me where you got all that stuff," she said, smiling. "Charming Charlie's," I said. "Oh my god, I love that place," she said. "I'm Stefani, by the way."

"Alea," I answered back.

"Wow. Your eyes are so cool," she complimented. "I wish mine were like that."

"Thanks," I said. "Oh, you got to meet my friend, Bakura."

I motioned him to come over to where we were.

(Bakura's POV)

I walked over to where Alea and the other girl were. "Stefani, this is Bakura. Bakura, this is Stefani," Alea said. "Pleasure to meet you," I said. "Oh my god, I love your accent. It reminds me of the Beatles," Stefani said. "And I love your hair."

"Um, thanks," I said.

"Okay, class, take your seats," an elderly red haired woman said. "Welcome to World History. I'm Mrs. Proff."

Mrs. Proffer was a Southern woman with bleached red hair that was curled into a poof on her head, thick red lipstick, and rimmed glasses. She seemed like a pleasant woman who liked to baby people. I could tell she liked to have fun, for her classroom was filled with items related to history, like tiny mummies, small models of ancient and famous structures, and posters of famous paintings and places. It was pretty cool.

(Alea's POV)

"Well, class, I thought we'd start today by doing something that will help us get to know our classmates," Mrs. Proff said. "We'll split into study groups of three and you're free to choose whomever you want."

Everyone quickly got up and started getting together. "Hey, how about the three of us be in a group," Stefani suggested. "That would be great," I said. "Whose place should we go to for study group?" "How about we rotate every other day," Stefani said. "First Alea's, then mine, then Bakura's." "Sounds like a plan," I said. Then, something caught my eye.


	8. School Time part 2

(Alea's POV)

Seto Kaiba was sitting all by himself in the back of the room. He probably wasn't able to get a group. "Hey, um, I'm going to ask Seto if he wants to join our group," I said. Stefani looked at me with a questioning look. "You are?" she asked. "Well, I just want to be nice to him," I said. "Okay," Stefani said.

I walked up to him, a little nervous. "Um, hi," I said. "What do you want?" he asked in a slightly annoyed tone. "Um, well, uh," I stuttered. "Well what?" he asked, irritated. _Come on! Just ask him! _"Would you like to join our group," I asked rather quickly. "Yeah, like that will ever happen," he said condescendingly. "I don't need to waste my time with people like you."

All my first thoughts towards him dissolved like acid had been poured over them. "Excuse me?" I asked. "People like me? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I really don't have time for this," he said. "Well, excuuuuuuse me, princess," I said, walking away. I sat back down with my group. "What a complete jerk," I said. "No kidding," Bakura said. "I tried to tell you," Stefani said. "Well, next time I will listen," I said.

Suddenly, something started buzzing in Stefani's pocket. "Oh, someone's texting me," she whispered. "Quick! Cover me." Bakura and I sat on either side of her. I looked at the message. _Want to go to a Fall Out Boy concert tonight? 3 _Stefani smiled and texted back. _Sure, c u l8tr 3 3 _

"Who was that?" I asked. "Oh, just my boyfriend, Trevor," she said. "He's a senior." "Oh, I guess you like older boys," I said. "Yeah, but I draw the line at four years older," she said. "I prefer boys my age or at least one year older," I said. "And tall," Stefani added. "Yes, and tall," I agreed. Bakura seemed very bored by this conversation. "Oh, sorry, Bakura," I said. "Let's change the subject."

We talked the whole rest of the time until the bell rang for 2nd period. Time for my favorite class, Art.

The classroom was fairly large with art desks arranged in a semi-circle. We were given a free choice of where to sit. Bakura and I sat next to each other and a girl with long reddish brown and green eyes sat next to me. "Hello," she said. "I've never seen you around before, you must be new."

"Yes, we just moved here a couple days ago," I said. "Well, by the looks of your uniforms, I can tell we're gonna get along just fine," the girl said. "I'm Kimber. Kimber Adams."

"I'm Alea Tsukurite," I said. "Bakura Touzoku," Bakura said. "You look familiar," Kimber told him. "Do you have a twin?"

"I do," Bakura said. "Ryou Touzoku?" she asked. "That's him," Bakura said. "You guys are like light and dark versions of each other," Kimber said. Our teacher walked in and started class.

She introduced herself as Mrs. Knight and looked to be in her late 20s to early 30s with short dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes. She acted like a big teenager and was a funny woman. She was going to be one of my favorite teachers. She handed out paper and gave us 20 minutes to draw whatever we wanted.

After 15 minutes, she walked around to examine what we were drawing. She stopped when she got to me and looked at my picture for a long moment. "Oo, that's a very nice drawing," she said. I had drawn an anime angel and used special manga pens to shade and outline it. "Thank you," I said. "Do you mind if I keep it and put it up on the board?" she asked. "Not at all," I replied, smiling. She took my picture and tacked it on the corkboard. "Nice job," Kimber whispered. "Not everyone gets praised on the first day."

Everyone looked at me with impressed expressions. Everyone but one girl, who looked at me with jealousy. She had short brown hair and ice blue eyes. "Ignore her," Kimber said. "Who is she?" I asked. "Her name's Carol," Kimber said. "One of Valorie White's minions."

"Oh, great, she has more," Bakura said.

Just then, the bell rang for 3rd period. "What do you have next?" Kimber asked. "Geometry," I replied. "I have a friend in that class you should meet," she said. "Her name is Sienna Brooks."

"Okay, thanks," I said. Our math teacher, Ms. Smith, seemed like an organized woman who knew exactly what to do and when to do it. As she called roll, she said "Sienna Brooks" and a girl with short light brown hair answered. I quickly wrote down on a piece of paper "Hi, I'm new here and I know your friend Kimber. She told me to meet you" and threw it towards her desk. Luckily the teacher didn't see. Sienna read the message and turned around and waved. "Meet me at lunch," she mouthed. I nodded. After class, we met her for fourth period lunch.

"So, you know Kimber?" she asked. "Yeah, she's in my art class," I said. "Well, you two sure look like people she gets along with," she said.

After we got our lunch, we saw our group and sat down with them. "Ugh! I hate Biology class," Joey complained. "Mr. Lowden is soooo boring."

"Crap, I have him 6th period," I said. "I'm so sorry," Joey said. "Too bad for you," Tristan said. "I have Physical Science with Mr. Morris and he is easy."

"Nyeh, quit rubbing it in," Joey said. "Hey, Alea," Tea said. "Why don't we do something fun after school."

"Sorry, I can't," I said. "My parents are leaving today."

"Oh," Tea said. "Maybe tomorrow," Yugi suggested. "Yeah, that would be good," I said. We talked none stop about school and everything else.

Suddenly, Valorie walked by and "tripped", causing her salad to spill all over Ryou's uniform. "Oops," she said in a snobby tone. "Sorry, but you know, it's kind of an improvement."

"You wanna say that again?" Bakura said angrily, getting up from his seat. "What are you gonna do about it?" Valorie asked. Just then, a tall boy with black hair and tan skin put his hand on Valorie's shoulder. "Don't make a scene, little sis," he said. "You shouldn't have spilled your food all over that boy anyway."

"Michael! You're seriously gonna defend these freaks?" Valorie said. "Why don't you just leave them alone, they already have enough trouble as it is with being new and all," Michael said. Valorie walked away in a huff.

"Sorry, about that," he said, though he was looking at me. Ryou removed his jacket and went to the bathroom. "Valorie doesn't exactly care for people who are different," Michael said. "So, what's your name, Angelface?"

"Alea," I said, blushing. "This is Bakura and that was Ryou."

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Michael said. "I can help you out if Valorie keeps getting under your skin." "Oh, thanks," I said. Michael smiled and walked away. "I can't believe Valorie is related to that nice guy," I said. The boys just rolled their eyes. The bell rang for 5th period.


	9. School Time part 3

(Alea's POV)

I walked with Joey and Tristan to Lifetime Sports, since Bakura had Study Hall. Surprisingly, there weren't that many people in the class. Most of them were wearing gym uniforms. When I say most, I mean everyone but me.

When our teacher, Coach Thermin, walked in, I was beyond shocked. There was no way he could be a gym teacher. He looked like a giant ball! "What the hell," I whispered to Joey. "Is he the gym teacher?"

"Believe it or not, he is," Joey replied. "What's he gonna teach us? How to sit down and eat donuts?" I asked. Tristan giggled. "Alea Tsukurite," Coach Thermin said. _Oh, crap. _He motion for me to come to the table. I was nervous. Even though his appearance was funny, he still seemed pretty intimidating.

"Yes?" I said. "I understand you're new here and don't have a gym uniform," he said. _Whew! Not in trouble. _"Luckily I have a spare one lying around from a person who dropped this class," he said. "Go to the locker room and suit up."

I took the Domino High T-shirt and blue gym shorts and went into the girls' locker room. After I finished, I found a spot on the floor next to a familiar boy with silver hair. "Hello, Alea," he said. I was a bit taken aback. "How do you know me?" I asked. "Alex told me," he replied. "She said her mom is taking care of you while you're here."

"Oh, right," I said. I nearly forgot Tsukiko was Alex's boyfriend. After doing a few minutes of stretches, Coach Thermin decided to let us play badminton. "Hey, Joey," I said. "Wanna play me?"

"I don't know, I might be too hard for you," he said. "Well, sounds like someone's afraid of playing against a girl," I taunted. "Yeah, Joey," Tsukiko chimed. "You scared?"

"Like hell I am!" Joey fired. "Let's do this." Not even five minutes in, I was already crushing Joey. Finally, I won…15 to 0! "Damn, Joey, she pummeled you," Tristan said. Joey flushed red. Just then, Coach Thermin blew his whistle. "Alright! Get dressed," he ordered us.

As we filed into the respective locker rooms, I noticed something very strange. Tsukiko was heading into the girl's locker room. What the heck? Did he not notice where he was going…or was it on purpose? He was already in the locker by the time that crossed my mind. I had to stop him before he did something that would hurt Alex's feelings.

As I walked in, no one seemed surprised that Tsukiko was there. I saw him go behind a wall and followed him. "Tsukiko," I said. He had his shirt off. However, when he turned around, I had to do a double-take. Did he have…breasts? "Wha?" I quietly. Tsukiko laughed softly. "I guess I should have told you I was a girl," she said. "But Alex said…but you're…oh…right," I said. "She said I was her 'special' friend, but she never told you I was her 'girlfriend', did she," Tsukiko said. "I guess not…by the way, I have nothing against that," I said. "Thank you," Tsukiko said, smiling.

We changed our clothes and went back into the gym. Joey and Tristan saw us and started giggling. I knew exactly why. "Oh, shut it," I said, hitting them with my gym bag. "It's not like could tell by looking at her."

Then, the bell rang for 6th period…the dreaded Biology class with Mr. Lowden. I met up with Bakura and Tea. "Ready the most boring class of your life?" Tea said. "No," I said. We walked into the classroom, which had to be the most bland and depressing room in the whole building. There was only a few people in the class, talking about whatever.

Just then, a black man in his mid to late 60s walked in. "Quit that talkin' and get in your seats!" he ordered. Sheesh! He was scary, too. He then went to handing out our Biology textbooks. It was an unnecessarily slow process that took about 15 minutes.

"Now, in this class we'll be starting with Chapter 12 on DNA, come and pick up your review sheets and outlines for the chapter," he said. There was a displeased moan from the class as we got our papers. "You will all need notebooks in which you will copy the entire outline, the vocabulary for this chapter, and bellwork, in that exact order," Mr. Lowden said. "And don't think I'll just give you an A for completion, I will take points off for every mistake I find."

"God, demanding much," Bakura whispered. "Stop that whispering," Mr. Lowden ordered. "Have you no respect?"

"Sorry," Bakura said quietly.

The rest of the class went on being as boring as watching a tennis match. Bakura wrote something on a piece of paper. He blocked it with his textbook and showed it to me. It read "Is this guy a horrible teacher or what?". I nodded in agreement.

I was more than thrilled when the bell rang for 7th period. "So, who do you have for English Honors?" Tea asked. "Mrs. Cox," I replied. "Oh, that's cool," she said. "I think you'll like her."

"I know I'll like her better than Mr. Lowden, that's for sure," I said. "No kidding," Bakura agreed. We entered the classroom where a whole bunch of posters and projects were mounted on the walls. Just then, I saw two familiar faces: Yugi and Ryou. "Hey, guys! Over here," Yugi called out. We sat down with them just as Mrs. Cox walked in.

She was a woman that looked to be in her mid to late 20s with short brown hair and a thin figure. "Good afternoon," she said. "Before we begin, I want to announce that anyone who wants to join the yearbook club needs to sign up after class." She then issued out our literature books and several sheets of paper that included a schedule, outside reading books, and a class syllabus.

Class went about normally, with a twist. The boys and Mrs. Cox were talking about a recent football game and the girls were talking about…pretty much anything. I was surprised at how laidback Mrs. Cox was. This was going to be a good year in English. Then afternoon announcements came on and the bell rang right after.

But that only slightly relieved me, because now it was time for my parents to leave me for longer than they ever had. "See you later, Alea," Bakura said. "You, too," I said, as I got into the car with my parents.

The drive was quiet. Mom started crying a little halfway to the airport and I lightly wrapped my arms around her from behind the seat. "It's going to be okay," I reassured her." "I know," she said quietly. We approached the airport. I counted the minutes until we reached it.


	10. Friends Are Always There for You

(Alea's POV)

We walked rather slowly to the security gate. "Well…I guess this is it," I said quietly. "Yeah, I guess it is," Dad said. We shared a long group hug. "I'm going to miss you guys so much," I said, crying loudly. "We're going to miss you, too," Mom said, crying as well. "Promise you'll Skype every day," I said. "We will," Mom promised. "Flight 261 to Amsterdam now boarding," the intercom announced. "We have to go now, sweetie," Mom said.

I didn't want to stop hugging them, though. Charlotte had to pull me away. "I love you," I called to my parents as they passed through security. "We love you, too, sweet pea," they called back. I watched until they were out of sight. I turned to Charlotte and cried on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around me. "Ssh, it's going to be okay," she said in a comforting voice.

I felt another hand on my shoulder. "She's right," a familiar, British voice said. I looked up and saw Bakura. "Bakura," I breathed. "Why…"

"We all came," he said. I looked past him and saw our entire group, plus Alex and Tsukiko. "What are you all doing here?" I questioned, surprised. "We all came here for you," Tea said. "Yeah, we didn't want you to go through the rest of this alone," Yugi said. "Friends are always there for you, right?" Joey said. "Oh…you guys…thank you," I said. I was in the center of a giant group hug.

"Hey, we know what will make you feel better," Tsukiko said. "We know this great Japanese restaurant that we can all go to tonight."

"That would be great," I said. "Yeah, and maybe we can go to Fao Schwarz beforehand," Ryou suggested. "That huge toy store?" Tristan questioned, seeming not to like the idea. "Of course we can," I said. "I want to try out that huge piano."

"You guys are darlings, thinking so kindly of Alea," Charlotte said. "But maybe you should change out of your school uniforms."

"Oh, yeah. That's a good idea," I said. We exited the airport and got into separate cars. Bakura, Ryou, Alex, and I rode in Charlotte's car, while the others rode in Tsukiko's car.

When I got up to my penthouse, I was instantly greeted by Midnight and Toph. "Aw, were my babies good today?" I said. Toph jumped up and licked my face, while Midnight rubbed herself against me, purring. "Momma has to go back out, so I probably won't see you until tonight," I said. Toph whimpered. "Toph, you want your squeaky? You want your squeaky?" I asked. She barked and started jumping up and down for the squeaky toy in my hand. "Go get it," I said throwing it. She raced towards the toy and raced back, placing it at my feet. "Good girl," I said, scratching her head. I picked up a stick with a toy tied to it and started dangling it over Midnight. She vigorously pawed at it.

While they were occupied, I went upstairs to change. I put on some jeans and a black shirt with a Buffy logo on it. I took off my knee length converse boots and replaced them with normal converses. I grabbed my purse and went to meet up with Bakura, Ryou, and Alex. Bakura wore a simple black shirt and jeans, while Ryou wore a loose white button-up shirt and light blue pants. Alex wore an orange tank top and khaki shorts with a pair of hiking boots.

"Where's your mum?" Ryou asked. "She had things to do," Alex replied. "So we're taking a cab." We exited the building, caught a cab, and headed to Fao Schwarz. When we got there, the rest of the group was waiting for us.

When we entered, the first thing that caught my eye was the HUGE candy shop. It seemed to catch Ryou's eye as well. "That has got to be the sweetest thing EVER," I said, practically drooling. "Ha, get it? Sweet," Joey said. We didn't laugh. It was too corny a joke. "Ah, screw you guys," he mumbled. Ryou and I decided to each get a bag of various kinds of candies.

After that I browsed the stuffed animal department and discovered a Duel Monsters section. What first caught my eye was a Winged Kuriboh doll. "Awww! Isn't that the cutest thing ever?" I exclaimed. "I am sooo getting this."

Next was the reason I wanted to come here: the giant piano. "So, who wants to do this with me?" I asked. No one stepped forward. "Come on, none of you know how to play the piano?" I questioned. Bakura finally stepped forward. "I'll do it with you," he said. "Okay…what should we play?" I asked. We thought for a moment. "How about 'When the Saints Go Marching In'?" I suggested. "I listened to it all the time when my dad and I went to New Orleans."

"Okay," Bakura agreed.

We did a countdown and launched into the song with a vigorous start, me on the treble clef and him on the bass clef. As we kept playing a crowd formed to watch us, several of them taking videos and pictures. We reached the end of the song and finished with sharp strikes of the final notes. The crowd cheered and applauded. "You guys were great!" Yugi said. "Thanks," we both said in unison.

Just then, I noticed two not so cheerful faces in the crowd. They were Valorie and who appeared to be her little sister. "Well, apparently two people didn't enjoy the performance," I said. "Oh, ignore them," Tea said. "They're just jealous because they have no talent whatsoever."

"I believe that," I said. Just then, my stomach started to growl. "Yeah, about that Japanese restaurant," I said. "Can we go now?"

"Yes, I'm starving," Ryou agreed. I purchased my candy and Winged Kuriboh and we left for the restaurant. When we got there, we got a large table and ordered our food. I started thinking about my parents and how we always went out the Asian restaurants. "What's wrong, Alea?" Tea asked. "Huh? Oh, nothing," I said. "Just thinking about my parents. Gosh, this is going to be hard."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, most of us here have had problems with our parents," Joey said. "I mean, my parents divorced when I was little and I was separated from my sister Serenity."

"Same with me," Tsukiko said. "Only my father left me with my aunt and uncle. But my uncle…well…he was the reason I ended up here…he wasn't exactly the best guardian."

"My father died when I was little," Yugi said. "That's why I live with my mother and grandfather now."

"Our sister and mother died in a car accident several years ago," Ryou said. "Yeah, then our father practically abandoned us," Bakura said. _Wow. I didn't know that everyone else lived with one or no parents. _This made me feel better. "So, what do you guys normally do for fun?" I asked. "Well, we usually just hang out," Tea said. "Yeah, that and we play Duel Monsters a lot," Joey said. "In fact, I'm training with Yugi's grandpa so I can be the best dueler in the world…though I will admit, it has been pretty rough training."

"I didn't think learning how to play a card game was that hard," I said. "Neither did I," Joey said. "But you have to know exactly how to strategize your deck and when to play certain trap cards, how to special summon monsters, and what magic cards react with which monsters."

"Yikes."

"By the way, are you any good at Duel Monsters, Lea?" Joey asked. "Kind of," I said. "I don't play much, but I'm a fairly good player."

"What's your deck type?" Yugi asked. "Angel," I replied. "or Heaven, whichever you think is more appropriate."

"Wow, no wonder you wanted that 'Amisi/Destria' card so much."

"Yeah, it definitely fits well into my deck." We finished off an order of crab wontons and ate our dinner. I had the usual shrimp Lo Mein. When we were done, they brought out our check and fortune cookies. "What does yours say, Alea?" Bakura asked. "It says 'Your significant other is closer than you think'. Ooh, I'm sooo keeping this one," I said. "I never really believe in these things," Joey admitted. "Come on, read one," I pressed. "Alright… 'Fame is in your future'. YES!" he exclaimed. "Well, that certainly turned around," I said. We all laughed.

"Well, I should be getting home, I don't want to worry Charlotte," I said. "Hey, we might as well come with you," Bakura said, indicating himself and Ryou. "Alex, you coming?" I asked. "No, I'm staying with Tsukiko," she said. Tsukiko smiled and kissed her cheek. Bakura gave me a questioning look. "Their lesbians," I mouthed. "Oh," he said. "See you guys at school tomorrow," I said. "Bye," they all said. We got into the cab and went back to the apartments.


	11. Dates

**FF to Friday**

(Alea's POV)

As I was getting books from my locker, I accidentally dropped one. "Let me get that for you, Angelface," someone said. When I looked up, it was Michael. "Oh…hi, Michael," I said shyly. "Thanks." "So, I was wondering," he began. "Would you like to go out sometime?"

I was surprised. No one had ever asked me out before. I was silent. "I guess not," he said. _You idiot!_ _Don't let him get away! _"No, I mean, I would definitely like to go out sometime," I said. He smiled. "How about tomorrow at five?" he asked. "Sure," I said. He kissed my cheek and turned to leave. I began blushing radiantly.

_Wow. I'm going on a date…with a hot guy_.

(Valorie's POV)

I was on my way to the ever so boring Computer class when I noticed something that seriously pissed me off. My twin brother flirting with that little freak, Alea. What the hell was he doing with her? When he walked away from her, I went up and grabbed him by his jacket. "What the fuck were you doing with that freak?" I questioned.

"What? You have something personal against Alea?" he asked. "Have you not noticed the way she dresses, or what her eyes look like? It's not normal!" I said. "And that's a bad thing?" Michael questioned. "Of course it's a bad thing! It makes her a freak, someone that neither you nor I should be dating," I replied. "Val, calm down. You are overreacting," Michael said. "Besides, last time I checked, Alea was the star of the newest hit on YouTube."

He took out his iTouch and showed me a video of what I had seen in Fao Schwarz Monday afternoon. I was beyond pissed. How dare that bitch steal my spotlight. I scoffed at the video and walked away. I had a new public enemy number 1: Alea Tsukurite.

**FF to that afternoon**

(Alea's POV)

"Man, I can't wait to see what your house looks like," I said to Stefani as we walked to her house for the study date. "Thanks," she said. "By the way, where's Bakura?"

"He's going to be a little late today."

"Why?"

"Apparently Ryou passed out in Mr. Jones's Biology class when they watched a movie on babies being born, and Bakura has to make sure he's okay."

"Aw, what a good brother he is…and poor Ryou."

"I know, he's so dang sensitive, but so darn cute."

"That he is."

"Oh, I got something to tell you."

"What?"

"I got asked out on a date today."

"Really? By who?" "Michael White."

"Him? Valorie's twin brother?"

"Yeah, I mean, I know it doesn't sound right to most people, but I can tell he's different from Valorie. Because I overheard them talking about me when Michael left, and she said I was a freak, but Michael told her she was overreacting and informed her that I was in one of the most popular videos on YouTube."

"Wow, he really wanted to rub it in her face."

"Yeah, it was awesome to see her get so pissed."

After walking for a few more minutes, we reached her house, it was pretty nice, and big. When we got inside, it was really, really nice.

"Wow, Stef, you have a really nice hou…Kitty!" I exclaimed upon seeing a little brown Scottish Fold-Himalayan mix with white paws and the biggest blue eyes I've ever seen. "Aww, he's so cute!" I said, kneeling down and scratching his ears. He purred contently. "What's his name?" "McCartney." "As in 'Paul McCartney'?"

"The one and only." Just then, there's was a barking sound and a small white American Eskimo puppy came racing towards us. He jumped up onto my lap and licked my face. "And this is Ringo," Stefani said. "I take it you're a Beatles fan," I said. "Oh yeah," she replied. "Come on, let's go up to my room."

We walked up the staircase and turned right to where her room was. When we entered the room, I was overcome by 60s British rock n roll. Beatles bedcover and pillowcases, Beatles posters, Beatles memorabilia, even a painting of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" on her wall. "Dang, girl! You are obsessed!" I said. "Why, thank you," she said, proudly.

That's when I saw a bookshelf filled with DVDs. "I guess you're a movie lover, too," I said. "Yep, hey, why don't we watch one?" she offered. "Sure," I said. "We'll watch _Clockwork Orange_," she said. "Uh, no. I don't do well with those kinds of movies," I said. "What else do you have?"

"Well, how about Rocky Horror Picture Show?" Stefani suggested. "Oh, definitely," I said. "That's one of my favorite musical movies."

"Yeah, my favorite song is…I'm just a sweet transvestite," she began to sing. "From Transexual Transylvaniaaaaaaaaaa."

"Well, my favorite song is…Let's do the Time Warp, again," I sang. "It's just a jump to the left," Stefani said. "And then a step to right." We started doing the dance. "Put your hands on your hips."

"And pull your knees in tight."

"But it's the pelvic thrust," another voice said. "That really drives you insane." We turned around and saw Bakura standing in the doorway. "Let's do the Time Warp, again," we all sang. "Let's do the Time Warp, again." We all collapsed on the floor. We started laughing. "How'd you get in, Bakura," Stefani asked. "The door was wide open," Bakura said. "Oh no! Ringo and McCartney didn't get out, did they?" Stefani asked worriedly. "If you mean your dog and cat, no, they greeted me as I came in," Bakura assured her. Stefani breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, is Ryou okay?" I asked. "Yeah, I gave him some tea and some chocolate, and Charlotte is watching over him," Bakura said. "That's good," I said. "We just about to watch Rocky Horror Picture Show."

"I should have guessed by you just doing the Time Warp," Bakura laughed. We all sat down on some beanbags and Stefani put the DVD into the giant flat-screen TV. As we watched, we sang the songs and danced the dances. We even quoted the famous, three-times-in-a-row line: "Janet! Dr. Scott! Janet! Brad! Rocky! *glare*."

As the movie ended, someone walked in. "Well, did you kids study or just watch movies the whole time," a man laughed. "Hi, Dad," Stefani said. "Yeah, I guess we got a little too caught up in the music." Her dad laughed. "You kids," he said. "So, Stefani, who are your friends?"

"Oh, this is Alea, and that's Bakura."

"Nice to meet you guys."

"Likewise," I said. "Well, it's Friday, you guys probably don't want to study," he said. "You can put it off until Sunday…well, I leave you guys to your movies now."

"I like your dad, Stef," I said. "He's nice," Bakura agreed. "Yep," Stefani said. "What's next…Clockwork Orange?"

"No," Bakura and I said simultaneously. We looked at each other, weirded out. "Okay, okay, how about Airplane?" Stefani suggested. "Okay," I said. "Hey, do you guys want to stay for dinner?" Stefani asked. "Sure," we said. "How about we order Chinese take-out?"

"Yum, definitely."

The rest of the night, we watched old movies and ate Chinese food. Was there a better combination? After I got home, and checked on Ryou, I anticipated my date with Michael. Not only was it great to be going out with a hot guy, but it was also great to see Valorie squirm with anger.


	12. The AntiValorie Group

**FF to Monday Afternoon**

(Alea's POV)

"So, how was your date Saturday night?" Bakura asked. "Pretty good, actually," I said. "Michael took me out to dinner at Outback and then we went to the Pier."

"Wow, that sounds…exciting," Bakura said, a slight sarcastic tone in his voice. "Well, it was fun," I said. "Right," Bakura said quietly.

What was with him? Every time I talked about Michael he seemed to get bitter. I guessed it was the fact that he was related to Valorie. "Bakura, just because he's Valorie's twin that doesn't mean he's exactly like her," I said. "You can't be so judgmental of someone until you get to know them."

"…I suppose you're right," he sighed. "So, are you going to help me with grocery shopping or what?" I said, changing the subject. He laughed. "Of course I will," he said.

We went into the Kroger and started shopping. We bought food, cleaning supplies, toiletries, all the necessities. I even bought a small pack of creampuffs for Ryou. We purchased our groceries and headed back to the apartment.

"You know what I can't believe," I said. "What?" Bakura said. "That Mr. Lowden made us miss homecoming court votes," I said. "I mean, he made us miss nominations, now he makes us miss voting? Now I'm sure Valorie's going to win."

"It's extremely unfortunate."

"Definitely." Oh, well, I guess there was no getting around it. Valorie was obviously going to be Sophomore Homecoming Princess. That thought made me vomit.

**FF to Next Week, Monday**

(Alea's POV)

Well, my prediction was right. Valorie was voted Sophomore Homecoming Princess. Blagh. I wish there was a trashcan around. But if I kept wishing that, I'd be like Valorie. Being bulimic. And I definitely didn't want that.

As I walked to lunch, I noticed Trevor, Stefani, and Kimber talking in a corner. "So, how should we prank Valorie this year?" Kimber said. I was instantly interested. "Excuse me, but did I hear the words 'prank' and 'Valorie' in the same sentence?" I said. Stefani covered my mouth. "Ssh! Don't let it slip out," she whispered. "Yeah, it's something we've been wanting to do since middle school."

"Well, then I want to be part of it," I said.

"Good, we need all the people we can get…it's kinda larger than this, so it's a lot of people."

"Yeah, and they have all been wronged by Valorie in some way," Trevor added.

"Then I definitely want in on this," I said.

"Then you'll need to meet at my house after school today," Stefani said.

"Oh, and the password is Yellow Submarine," Kimber whispered.

"Yellow Submarine…got it," I said.

"Get whoever you trust to join," Trevor said.

"Okay," I said.

As I departed from the group and got my lunch, someone came up and wrapped their arms around my waist. "Michael," I said. "So, did you get my text messages?" he asked. "Text messages?" I questioned. I hadn't used my phone since Saturday. I turned on my phone. "55 text messages!" I exclaimed. "Michael! You can't send me that many over the course of a single day." He frowned. "Oh, so even though I'm your boyfriend I can't send you as many messages as I want?" he questioned. "Well, when that number is 55, no," I said. "I understand you want to talk to me a lot, but there's a border between good and…and just plain annoying."

"Well, sorry, maybe you should be a little more tolerant," Michael said. "I am tolerant, it's you who has a problem," I said. "You're obsessive." He grimaced and started walking away. However, he came back just as I was leaving and took my hand in his. "Alea…I'm sorry," he said, his voice calm. "I didn't mean to snap at you…it's just…Valorie and Sara have been getting on my nerves lately and it's really irritating me." I smiled softly. "I can believe that," I said. "Anyone living with her would be on the edge of insanity with all her bitching."

"So, let's forget this argument ever happened." "Okay…but seriously, we need to set a text limit. Only 5 a day."

"Alright."

"That doesn't include back and forth texting."

"Okay."

"Deal?"

"Deal."

Before he let me go, he planted one on my lips. I blushed heavily. I wasn't really a fan of PDA. We separated and I went through the rest of the school day. I mentioned to Bakura and Ryou about the Anti-Valorie group and got them in it. Afterwards, we headed to Stefani's house for the meeting. We knocked on the door and it opened just a sliver.

"Password," Andrea said.

"Yellow Submarine," we said in unison.

"Come on in," Andrea said in a welcoming tone. "The meeting is in…the meeting room."

Ryou laughed loudly. "…Ryou, it wasn't that funny," Bakura said. Ryou blushed. We entered and went into a fairly large room with a round table, where the members of the group were seated. It consisted of many familiar faces: Stefani, Trevor, Kimber, Andrea, Sienna, Devon, Tsukiko, Alex, Yugi, and Tea. We took the last available seats at the table.

"Okay, I, Stefani Palumbo, call this meeting of the Anti-Valorie group to order," Stefani said. "Now, as we all know, the Homecoming dance is upon us and we need to think of a prank to pull on the enemy, Valorie White."

"Down with Bloody Big Head!" Kimber shouted.

"Nice _Alice in Wonderland _quote," I said.

"Thank you," Kimber said.

"Anyway, we need ideas for the prank," Trevor said.

"Ooh! How about a huge catapult and fill it will feces to fling at her," Sienna suggested.

"No, too complicated, and too gross," Stefani said.

"Put lice in her crown," Tea offered.

"Where are we going to get lice?" Kimber questioned.

"Oh…right," Tea said.

That's when I got an idea. "Hey, why don't we put cockroaches in her bouquet," I said.

"That…might actually work," Stefani said.

"Yeah, once they start crawling onto her body, she'll flip out," I said.

"You know what, that is going to be our prank…all in favor say I."

"I," everyone said in unison.

"Well, then, this might be the prank of the year," Stefani said. "Now…Who wants to play Rainbow Unicorn Attack!" We all cheered and went over to the plasma screen hooked up to the computer.

We played it for hours, it was the most addicting game ever. After getting bored, we switched up and played Goliath the Soothsayer, Purgatorium, and the House 1 and 2. I usually didn't like these games, but I got so curious that I just had to. There were moments during the scare flashes that Ryou fainted and, well, we had to bring out the chocolate.

"Well, we should probably get home," I said.

"Yeah," Ryou agreed.

"See you tomorrow, Stef," I said.

"You, too," she said.

We walked back to the Bellmont Building. When I got into my apartment, my cell phone buzzed. It was a text from Michael. "My one for the night. Luv u, Angelface." I just rolled my eyes and smiled. "U 2," I texted back.

I hope he didn't mind that I was going prank his sister. Heh heh… of course he wouldn't mind.


	13. Pretty Goth Girls

**Homecoming Day: School time**

(Alea's POV)

As I was working on a quiz in Geometry, I became anxious. Tonight was the night the Anti-Valorie group would humiliate Valorie in front of the entire school. "Okay, you have only 10 minutes left," Ms. Smith reminded us. I hurried through the last few problems and turned in my quiz.

As I was about to set it down on the stack, Amber walked up and bumped me out of the way while Ms. Smith wasn't looking and set her own paper on the stack. She turned her coal black eyes to me. "I'd like to see you make a better grade than me," she said condescendingly. As she walked back to her desk, I looked at her quiz and noticed that she had neglected to put "Pledged" (in other words, the Honor Code that states she hasn't cheated) on her paper, which would result in an instant zero. _Who's the dumbass now, bitch? _I smiled to myself and set down my paper, returning to my desk.

As I walked to lunch, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw Michael. "Oh, hi, Michael," I said. "So, I heard you're going to humiliate my sister tonight," he whispered. "Yeah," I replied. "Not like she doesn't deserve it, 'cause she does."

"Too true," Michael said.

"Well, I'll have to catch up with you later," I said. "Got to get with my group."

"Okay, Angelface," Michael said, kissing my cheek.

As I got my lunch and sat with my group, I noticed Tsukiko and Joey talking off to the side. "What are we going to do?" Tsukiko said. "We've lost our bass player and we have to perform tonight in front of the whole school."

"I don't know anyone who can play bass guitar…maybe we should just leave this to Ultraviolet Night," Joey said.

"No way, their counting on us to entertain, too," Tsukiko denied. "There has to be someone."

Then, a thought struck me. I had heard Bakura playing bass guitar in his apartment before when I had gone over for study dates. "Bakura."

"Yeah?"

"Maybe you could be the bass guitarist for the Moonlit Knights."

Bakura paused.

"Wait, Bakura can play bass?" Tsukiko questioned.

"I guess I can," Bakura admitted.

"You gotta join us, man!" Joey said, grabbing him by his uniform jacket.

"Okay, first of all: personal bubble, and you're invading it," Bakura said, making Joey let go of him. "Second: Alright, I'll join the band, sheesh."

"Great," Tsukiko said. "Welcome to the Moonlit Knights, Nyx."

"Nyx?" Bakura questioned.

"That's your band name," Tsukiko said. "Named for the goddess of night."

"Goddess? Are you implying something?" Bakura asked coldly.

"No, we have to take names of Greek gods associated with either the moon or night, and the only ones are goddesses," Tsukiko explained. "Like I'm Luna, Joey is Artemis, and now you're Nyx."

"Hey, be happy that both our names at least sound manly," Joey said. I laughed a little.

"Now, it's 6:00 tonight, don't be late," Tsukiko said. "You can play the bass chords of 'It's My Life', right?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Bakura said.

"Good. After our song, the Sophomore Homecoming court will be presented, and that's when we set Alea's prank into action," Tsukiko said.

I smiled. Valorie was going to be pranked and it was my idea being used. The bell rang and I went through the rest of the school day as if I wasn't up to something. As I went to my locker at the end of the day, someone snuck up behind me and quickly jabbed their fingers into my sides. "YEEEP!" I let out from the shock. "Gotcha!" Stefani said. "Stef, don't do that," I said, laughing and clutching my sides. "What's up?"

"We got shopping to do."

"Shopping?"

"Yeah, we have to get our outfits for tonight."

"Oh, right."

She wrapped her arm around mine and we headed outside. "Now, we have to wear outfits that will definitely stand out in the crowd," she said. "Because Valorie _hates _people who get more attention than she does, especially when it comes to homecoming."

"So, you mean like…rhinestones and a lot of sparkle and shine?" I asked.

"No."

"Then what?"

"Well, I was thinking on the lines of ultra goth-punk, lots of eyeliner, dark lipstick, ripped tights, fingerless gloves, crazy dresses, converses, the whole package."

"Hmm. Sounds like a good idea."

"Yeah, because if there's one thing Valorie hates more than people stealing her attention, it's people who are 'different'. You see, she absolutely despises anyone who wears a lot of black and dark colors."

"Pretty much anything she isn't, right?"

"Exactly."

"Then I guess it's Hot Topic for us."

"Precisely." By the time I had said that, we were already at the mall. We went up the escalator and entered the store. When we did, we caught up with Sienna, Andrea, Kimber, Tsukiko, Joey, and Bakura. Ryou wasn't there because he wasn't into the whole Goth thing. But whatever he wore he would look absolutely adorable. As we shopped, I found a black and dark red dress with a slightly puffed skirt. To add to it, I got a small black jacket with sleeves that only reached my elbows, black lace gloves, clip-in red hair streaks, cut up fishnet stockings, a choker with a rose pendant, and black flats. Stefani found a dress similar to mine, but with purple instead of red and white polka dots on the skirt. She got a choker with an owl pendant, Lady GaGa Poker Face style gloves, fishnets, a black rose hair clip, and purple and black ankle converses.

Kimber and Andrea got identical dresses that were strapless with a corset top and had, of course, puffed skirts, only they had spider web patterns (the only difference between the two was that Kimber's dress was dark, dark red-pink, and Andrea's was a kind of dark gold-green that went well with her eyes). Kimber got a spiked choker, spiked wrist bands, torn black leggings, black boots with spikes, and a skull and crossbones hair clip. Andrea got a choker with a cameo pendant, clear black tights, strap-up shoes with three-inch high and thick heels, elbow length black gloves with a silver ribbon that zig-zagged down it, and a hair pin with a little hat on it.

Sienna went with a black dress with a puffed electric blue striped skirt, black flats, fishnets, black fingerless gloves with electric blue stripes, a studded choker, and lightning bolt hair clip.

After purchasing our masterfully put together outfits, I noticed Tsukiko and Bakura having trouble. "Well, they're both good, but they just don't look all…Moonlit Knight," Tsukiko said. "Well, what is Moonlit Knight to you?" Bakura questioned. "Like this," Tsukiko said, pulling up a picture on her iPhone. It was a sleeveless shirt, armbands, black skin tight jeans, converses, a choker, and a studded belt. "They don't sell sleeveless shirts with that moon symbol anymore, though," Bakura said.

That's when I got an idea. "Hang on one second," I said. I found a plain black form-fitting shirt and purchased it. "What are you doing, Lea?" Joey asked, not quite getting it yet. "Tsukiko, do you have that design on your iPhone?" I asked. "Yeah, right here," she said, pulling up a picture. "Follow me," I said taking the phone.

We went to T-shirt design shop just a block or so down from the mall. "Excuse me," I said to an employee. "Do you stamp designs on shirts here?"

"Yeah, $5 per shirt," he replied.

"Great! Can you print this design on this shirt?" I requested.

"Sure," he said.

He took the phone and the shirt. He first scanned the picture into a computer, then he put the shirt on what looked like a giant photocopy machine. He compressed it between the two giant pieces and pressed a green button. There was a photocopier noise and a small light escaped from the crack between the pieces and ran across the shirt. After about 10 minutes, he pressed a red button and the machine stopped. He lifted up the lid and pulled out the shirt. It had the design perfectly stamped on it. "There you go," he said, handing it to me. "That'll be $5."

"I'll give you $7 since you did it on such short notice," I said, handing him the money.

"Well, thank you," he said, happy to have gotten some extra money. "Now, let's go back to my apartment and finish this," I said. We got into Tsukiko's Mustang and sped back to the Bellmount Building. It was only two hours until the Homecoming dance and we still hadn't gotten ready. We went up to my apartment and I laid the shirt on the table. I retrieved a pair of scissors and cut off the sleeves. "Well, I think that solves your problem," I said, holding up the new shirt. They both seemed amazed. "Wow, Alea," Tsukiko said. "Even I couldn't think of this." I did a little "Yeah, I know" eye movement and smile. "Well, we should get ready," Bakura said. "Yeah, we need to get over to Stefani's so she can do our makeup," I said. "See you guys later."

"See you later," Bakura said.

I put on my outfit and looked in the mirror. "Oh, yeah. This is sure to raise Valorie's blood pressure, right guys?" I asked (especially since she had planned the Homecoming dance). Toph and Midnight barked and meowed in approval. I headed over to Stefani's, walking down the street in my new outfit. I got all kinds of looks; wowed looks, disgusted looks, interested looks. I passed by a group of Goth boys and the practically drooled at the sight of me.

When I got to Stefani's, the other girls were already done with their makeup. They all had black, obviously, but with extra color. Stefani had what I called Snow White Queen eyes with a curved, pointed purple design on the edges of her eyes. Kimber had the same style as Natalie Portman's Black Swan makeup. Sienna had an electric blue mermaid style makeup. And finally, Andrea had dark green "Dark Fairy" make-up. "So, what should we do with you?" Stefani wondered as she sat me down on her makeup chair. "I was thinking Vampire," I said. "Okay," Stefani said.

I closed my eyes and she worked her magic. She put on eye shadow, lipstick, lip liner, eye liner, curled my eyelashes, and applied mascara. "Okay, Queen of Vampires," she said, turning the chair around. I was amazed. I was…beautiful. Maybe I wouldn't be to Valorie and others like her, but to anyone who didn't follow her. I stood up and high-fived Stefani. We all gathered in front of the mirror. We were the prettiest Goth girls this side of New York. "Oh yes, my band of sisters. Tonight we will dominate this school and put Valorie White in her place," Stefani said.

We grabbed our purses and left. We made a quick stop by the pet store to grab the most important part of our prank: **the cockroaches**.


	14. The Homecoming, I mean, Cockroach Queen!

(Alea's POV)

We arrived just as a crowd of people were entering the school. As we got out of the car, I quickly grabbed the small bucket of cockroaches and put it in my purse. Luckily, it fit perfectly. When we got into the gym, Valorie was already making a spectacle of herself. She was wearing a hot pink dress that was covered from top to bottom in rhinestones. It was way too over the top for Sophomore Homecoming. Next to her were her friends, also wearing rhinestone dresses, and Seto Kaiba, wearing a white suit with a blue tie. I certainly didn't feel sorry for him. "Isn't that the most awful thing you ever saw?" Kimber said. "Definitely," I replied.

"Come on, girls," Stefani said. "We have to get ready for our first song." I almost forgot that Stefani's band, Ultraviolet Night, was performing tonight. "Hey, Alea," she said. "We don't want to leave you out, wanna sing a duet with me?" I was instantly surprised. "Really?"

"Of course."

I was then overcome by stage fright. "Well, actually, I don't know," I said. "Oh, come on, don't be scared," Stefani said. "It'll be both of us together."

"Well…I guess."

"You should do it," a voice said behind me. It was Bakura, along with Tsukiko and Joey, dressed in their band outfits and all wearing black eyeliner. "Wow, you look awesome," he said, now seeing me from the front. "Thanks , so do you," I said. There was just something about a guy in black eyeliner. "Go on and sing," Tsukiko encouraged. "Yeah, we know you'll be great, Lea," Joey chimed in. I blushed. "Okay, I will," I said, giving in to all the peer pressure. "Come on, it's almost time," Kimber said. "Oh, wait!" I said. "What song are we singing, Stef?"

"What the Hell by Avril Lavigne," she replied. "Whew! Good, I know that song," I said, relieved. We headed towards the stage.

(Valorie's POV)

I glowed in my everlasting spotlight as people stopped to look at me in my superb outfit. Some even took pictures of me, mostly with my sweetie, Seto. Nothing could ruin this night for me. And if anything did, whoever caused it would be in a world of hurt. Just then, a chaperone grabbed the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a cheesy announcer voice. "Presenting now for your entertainment, Ultraviolet Night!" Everyone cheered. I didn't bother. As long as they did exactly what I told them to do, I would be happy.

Then, I saw the worst thing I had ever seen. They were all in black, gothic dresses with either fishnet or striped stockings. I specifically told them to wear bright, colorful outfits! And on top of that, that little freak Alea was with them. There was no way she could sing! "Hello, Domino High!" Palumbo announced. "Are you ready to rock!" To my disgust, the entire crowd went crazy. "Then how about some Avril Lavigne!" she continued. There was no way she was serious. I told her NO ROCK MUSIC! That bitch was gonna pay!

(Alea's POV)

I got nervous as I picked up the second microphone. Everyone's eyes were on me. Kimber, Andrea, and Sienna started the song. Stefani started the first part of the first verse:

_You say that I'm messing with your head (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)_

_All 'cause I was making out with your friend (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)_

It was my turn:

_Love hurts whether it's right or wrong (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)_

_I can't stop 'cause I'm having too much fun (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)_

Then we sang together:

_You're on your knees, beggin' please_

'_Stay with me'_

_But honestly, I just need to be a little crazy_

_All my life I've been good, but now_

_Whoa I'm thinking 'What the hell'_

_All I want is to mess around,_

_And I don't really care about_

_If you love me, if you hate me,_

_You can't save me, baby, baby,_

_All my life I've been good but now,_

_Whoa 'What the hell'_

As we continued the song, I gained more confidence. Singing with my friends was great! When we finished, everyone cheered wildly. Well, everyone except for Valorie and her friends. But I didn't care. It actually made me smile. This was just pissing her off even further. I took a bow with my friends and we stepped off the stage. That's when we were approached by Valorie.

"I told you twerps NOT to do any of that! And what do you do? You do it anyway!" she bitched. "Sorry, princess, but you're just going to have to take a backseat and deal with it," Stefani said. "Even if you fired us, you'll only have the Moonlit Knights, and they're the same as us." Valorie's fake tan face turned red. "Fine!" she exclaimed. "Do your little punk thing and play your stupid rock shit! Next dance you won't be playing at all!" She turned and "priss walked" away. We all made faces at her. Seto just looked at us and left to join Valorie. "Oh, just wait 'til when you get crowned, princess," Kimber said.

"You were great!" a slight high-pitched boy's voice said. It was Ryou. And he was as cute as ever, wearing a white shirt with a light blue sweater vest. I couldn't contain myself. "Oh, Ryou! You look so cute!" I exclaimed, hugging him. He blushed heavily. "O-Oh…thank you, Alea," he said.

Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw it was Michael. "I assume you're not just here to make this the worst night of my sister's life," he said, smiling. "Wanna dance?"

"Sure," I said. "Well, she you guys later," I said. "Should we hold onto your purse?" Stefani asked. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea," I said, handing it to her. Michael took me to the center of the dance floor and we started to dance.

It was kinda awkward, since I was awful at dancing. Also, when Michael danced with me, he was a tad rough. When he twirled me, he'd practically yank me back to him and when he dipped me, it was so quick that I got really light headed when I got back up and so low that I nearly hit my head on the floor. But it was fun. When the last slow song before the Moonlit Knights went on played, Bakura approached us. "Excuse me, but you don't mind if I danced with her this time, do you?" he asked in the most polite way he could. "Uh, we're on a date," Michael replied. "Maybe some other time."

"Michael," I spoke up. "One dance isn't going to hurt, and he's my friend, anyway." Michael was silent for a moment. "Very well," he said. "One dance." I followed Bakura to the outer edge of the dancing floor. He gently placed his hands on my waist, and I put my hands on his shoulders. We started dancing slowly. He was as bad a dancer as I was and it made me feel more comfortable. "So, how's your date with Michael been so far?" he asked. "Pretty good," I replied. His left hand moved to my upper right arm. "Ouch," I said. "What's wrong?" Bakura asked. "Sorry…Michael spun me a little too hard," I said. "He did a few things a little too hard, didn't he?" Bakura said. "You're still unsure about him, aren't you?" I questioned. He didn't say anything, but I could tell by the look in his eyes. "It's just because of Valorie," I deduced. "And because only I know him."

"I guess so," Bakura said. "Bakura," Tsukiko said, coming up to us. "Come on, let's get ready."

"Oh, gosh! Is it that time already?" I said. I quickly went over to Stefani and we got behind the curtain where the crowns and bouquets were. Tea was supposed to present Valorie with hers. "You got them?" she asked. "Right here," I said, handing her the plastic jar. "Great. I'll put them in just before she's announced," Tea said. "You guys go back out and try not to act suspicious." We waited until no one was looking and crept back into the crowd. The Moonlit Knights just got to the final chorus of 'It's My Life' where the keys changed and I started rocking out:

_It's my life, it's now or never_

_I ain't gonna live forever_

_I just wanna live while I'm alive (it's my life)_

_My heart is like an open highway_

_Like Frankie said, I did it my way_

_I just wanna live while I'm alive_

_It's my life_

Tsukiko had the best singing voice ever for this song, even though she was a girl and was no Bon Jovi. The song ended and it was time. I got with the others and we climbed on top of the bleachers for the best seats to the performance. "Man, we just need popcorn," Joey said. We all laughed. "Okay guys, save it for the show," Kimber said. "And now, we will present your Sophomore Homecoming Court," a teacher announced. Each of the girls, which were just Valorie and her friends, stepped onto the stage. They were each presented with their tiara's and sashes and small bouquets. Finally, it was Valorie's turned.

"Oh, I can barely keep my heart from beating so fast," Ryou whispered. "I now crown you Sophomore Homecoming Queen," Mandy, another of Valorie's friends, said, placing the crown on her head. Carol placed her sash on her and, the moment we all were waiting for, Tea handed her the bouquet. "Oh, I'd like to thank everyone who voted for me," she said, acting as if she won the Miss America contest. That's when a black dot appeared on her arm. It was a cockroach! She felt it and freakedly swatted it off. Then, the whole cockroach army we planted in the flowers crawled onto her.

Then, chaos unleashed. She started screaming and spazing out. "Get them off me! Get them off me!" she cried out. She went berserk trying to get them off, so much so that she tripped on a microphone cord and face planted into the Homecoming cake. When she got back up, her cake and icing covered face made her look like a Picasso. Everyone in the gym broke out in laughter. We were laughing hysterically.

"Oh, my god!" I said, crying from laughing so hard. "That was great!"

"I guess now she's the Cockroach Queen of Evil," Alex said. "Come on, let's get out of here before something goes wrong," Tsukiko said, laughing. We quickly left the gym and got in our cars, heading to Stefani's after-party and sleepover.

We celebrated with Chinese take-out and _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_. "I wonder if she got hurt?" Ryou said, faking concern. "Well, if she did, I bet it was…just a flesh wound!" I laughed. Everyone laughed about my movie reference. This had to be my best night ever with all my friends. I was actually excited about Monday. Before we went to bed, I got a text from Michael:

_Great show. C u 2morrow, so u can make up that 1 dance._

I smiled at the first part, but rolled my eyes at the second part. But I was sure he was just kidding. We didn't fall asleep until 3:00 am. We were all still laughing from that night's events.


	15. Homecoming Aftermath

(Alea's POV)

I walked happily down the halls of Domino High, knowing that Valorie must be humiliated beyond belief. When I walked past a few of her campaign posters, people had drawn on them: putting cockroaches around her image and making her face look grotesque (as if it already wasn't). They even scratched out 'Homecoming Princess' and wrote in 'Cockroach Queen'. I couldn't help but laugh.

I walked to my locker and opened it. But before I could reach for my books, someone slammed the locker door shut. It was Valorie and her "minion" Iesha, and they looked extremely pissed off. "What's up Valorie…I mean, Cockroach Queen," I said.

"You little bitch," she said. "I know you and your freak friends did this."

"What? The cockroach thing?" I questioned, acting as if I knew nothing.

"Yeah," she said.

"We had no idea that would happen," I lied. "You know, those flowers you chose must've attracted them."

"You little liar! I know you did this!" she said. Iesha grabbed me by the collar and slammed me against the locker.

I just smiled. "Good luck proving that," I whispered.

"You'll pay for this," she said.

"All right, you three, break it up and get to class," a teacher said. Iesha let go of me and she and her "master" priss walked away.

I just smiled and re-opened my locker. There was a note sitting on top of my books. I opened it. "The butterflies will gather at the Central Park," it read. That was code for a meeting of the Anti-Valorie group, the butterflies representing the members and Central Park representing Stefani's House. I guess it was just planning to prolong Valorie's misery. I giggled to myself. This school year was already fun.

**Sorry it was so short. I just wanted a little aftermath after the prank. Next chaps might be a awhile since I'm studying for EOCs. Gotta pass those tests! **


	16. Halloween Horror Fest

**FF to 3 Days Before Halloween**

(Alea's POV)

"No! You cannot make me wear that in a million years!" I exclaimed as Tea tried to get me to wear a pink wig she had found.

"Come on, Alea, you need a little color with your outfit," Tea giggled. "Yeah, but not that color," I said.

"I think it's quite cute," Ryou said. "I think it's horrible," Bakura argued. "At least someone agrees with me," I said.

"Fine, I'll put it back," Tea said.

As I continued to search for a Halloween costume, I came across a pretty black corset with a lacey ribbon that criss-crossed on the front and tied in a bow at the bottom. It was tempting, but my mom had taught me how to be a smart shopper and to look at all the other options. I walked around the temporary Spirit Halloween store and looked at all the costumes.

The Alice one interested me, but did I really want to wear an ankle length dress while trick-or-treating? The vampiress one looked cool, but it seemed too cliché. I could go as someone from a slasher movie, but honestly, how many female slashers are there? And besides, Tristan and Joey were already going as Hannibal Lector and Jason.

I was about the only one without a solid costume. Tea was going as a witch, Yugi was going as a werewolf (and, oh, how adorable he looked), Ryou was going as an angel (he could've gone as himself for that costume. Cute!), Tsukiko was going as Gene Simmons, Alex was going as Kanaria from Rozen Maiden, and Bakura was going as a Victorian vampire.

I then went back to the corset I saw. I thought for a few moments. "Any ideas?" Joey asked. "…I think…" Then, an idea popped into my head. "I got it!" I said in a pretty loud voice, so much that everyone jumped. "I'll go as a heavy metal vampire!"

"How are going to do that?" Joey questioned. "Simple: I make myself look like a heavy metal rockstar, but then add some vampire flare…like these realistic vampire fangs I found." I produced a small coffin shaped box with two sharp canines mounted inside it. I took the corset and went into the changing room. However, I realized that the back had hooks like a bra does, but there were five times as many. I wasn't getting this on by myself.

I poked my head out of the dressing room. "Okay, I need help getting this on," I said. All the boys smiled in a weird way. "Well…" they all said in unison. "No! You perverts!" I said. "I meant Tea!" The boys pouted. Tea came in and helped me put on my corset. It looked pretty good. I walked out of the dressing room. "Well, what do you guys think?" I asked.

They turned around, but I swear they did a double take and their necks nearly broke. "Smokin'," Tristan said. "Sexy," Joey added. Yugi and Ryou couldn't say anything. Bakura simply smiled and said, "You look beautiful." I blushed. "See, why can't you two say more respectful things like Bakura does," I said to Joey and Tristan. "Come on, they _are _telling the truth," someone said.

I turned around and saw Michael. "Hey Michael," I said. "So, you found a costume?" he asked. "Well, a piece of it," I said. "I still have a little bit more to find."

"Well, I want to stay and help, but I still have stuff to do," he said. "However, before I go…" he took out a pen and took my hand, turned it palm side up and wrote five numbers on it. "Just in case you want to gate crash Halloween night, my sister is having a huge party, but it's code invite only, so this can get you in," he said. "Awesome, I'll see you there," I said. He smiled and kissed me.

I purchased the rest of the things for my costume and we went home to get ready for our Halloween movie night at the theater. The big movie…_Saw VI_. We decided to have an early dinner, that way we wouldn't be blowing chunks during the gore fest. We had been building up to this by watching every Saw movie and forcing ourselves to watch every second of the bloody, organ spilling, flesh cleaving, head exploding, murder-screaming scenes. Ryou fainted a bunch during the first couple, but with each one he passed out less and less frequently. Poor guy. Well, at least we always had some chocolate on hand. I just hoped once he ate it he wouldn't throw it up the very next second.

"Hang on, guys, I need to take a leak," Joey said as we ordered our food at McDonalds. "Did you really have to say that out loud?" Tea grumbled. We ordered our food and sat down. About fifteen minutes passed and Joey hadn't come back. "Man, what's taking him so long?" Tsukiko wondered.

Just then, Joey stumbled to the table, moaning in pain. "Let me guess, you dropped the toilet seat on your hand, didn't you?" Tristan joked. We all laughed. Joey kept moaning in pain. I then noticed that his ankle was red…really red and dripping. This wasn't funny anymore.

"Holy shit! What happened to your ankle!" I exclaimed. Everyone stopped laughing. "Some…some guy chained me up in there…and I broke my ankle to get out," he said. I paused for a long moment. "You twit!" I yelled, pounding my fist on his head. "You got us all worked up."

"If you were trying to pull an Adam Stranheight on us, you really failed," Tsukiko said. "If you remembered he was shown to be killed by Amanda Young in _Saw III_." We laughed it off and headed to the theater after we finished eating.

It was a long line to get in and more than two-thirds of the people there were _Saw_ fans. "Hey, guys, I'm going to get some snacks for later, you guys want anything?" Tea asked. We ordered simple things: candy, popcorn, nachos, and sodas. Also, some extra chocolate for Ryou, because it was still a huge possibility that he would faint at some point. Finally, the doors opened and we filed into the theater.

As we waited for the movie to start, I heard a sticking sound from behind me and someone whispered to someone else, "This floor is too sticky." That's when Joey turned around and said, "I just came." I could not contain my laughter. Even the people the joke was aimed at laughed. Hooray for Dane Cook.

Then, the movie began. It started from where the last movie left off, with Agent Strahm getting crushed to death when he tried to arrest Hoffman for being Jigsaw's last apprentice. Now Hoffman was going to use Strahm's severed hand with fingerprints to frame him for being Jigsaw's apprentice. Then, the main story began. Jigsaw was getting revenge on William Eston and his insurance company because they were playing God with people's lives (through health insurance).

I cringed at every test/trap. The worst was the Carousel Trap. For Ryou, he could even keep himself from fainting at the first scene with Strahm's mangled corpse. When William Eston reached the final room and got stabbed in the back with needles pumping deadly and corrosive hydrofluoric acid into his body, I held tightly to Bakura's arm, scared. I then blushed heavily. Poor Ryou vomited in an empty popcorn bucket when William's lower body fell out from the rest of his body in a bloody, intestine mess. The last part was another cliffhanger with Hoffman escaping from the Reverse Bear Trap with his cheek split wide open.

"I'm not going to sleep tonight," Tea said. "Me neither," Alex agreed. We had to half carry Ryou out of the theater. "Well, only one more day 'til trick-or-treating and gate crashing," I said as we waited in the elevator. Anything to get Valorie pissed off….heehee….


	17. Odd Intentions

**Halloween Night**

(Alea's POV)

"What was the code?" Tea asked. "57863," I replied. She punched in the code and the gates opened. It looked like one heck of a party. Granted, the decorations could have been a whole lot better (it was only a bunch of jack-o-lantern string lights and a witch on a tree. I mean come on! No graveyard or coffins or even a little fake blood?), but it was one big "monster mash". There were at least a hundred people there in all kinds of outfits.

We walked inside where the real party was happening. The music was blasting and there were multi-colored lights and strobe lights. Plus, everyone was wearing glow sticks. It was like a Halloween rave! I had to say, for the most evil girl in school, Valorie threw some pretty bitchin' parties. "How awesome is this!" I yelled over the loud music.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in and pissed all over," a familiar, evil voice said. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

(Valorie's POV)

I couldn't believe it. That little freak, Alea, gate crashed my party, along with all her loser friends.

"Look who's talking," she fired back at me. How dare she. "So, what are you supposed to be? An undead reject?" I asked. "Well, what are you?" she asked. "A trashy, anorexic bunny? Oh, wait, that's what you already are." I wanted to strangle her little choker clad throat. I paid a shit load of money for this Playboy Bunny outfit and she dares to insult me like that. I was about to tell her ass off, but I didn't want to look bad in front of everyone.

"Why are you here, anyway?" I questioned. "I didn't invite you."

"Well, your brother did," she replied. _Dammit, Michael!_ I screamed in my head. He had single handedly ruined my party. He was gonna pay. "Fine, enjoy the party," I said. "Just don't get in my way."

"Whatever you say…Cockroach Queen," she said. My fuse was about to explode.

(Alea's POV)

We laughed as Valorie stalked off with that Cockroach Queen insult hanging over her head. "Well, it's nice to see you giving my sister hell," someone said. "Oh, Michael, I could do that 24/7," I said. "But I wouldn't want to see her that often." He chuckled.

I turned to face him and nearly broke into a sweat upon seeing him in a Will Turner pirate costume. He looked so…so…fine! He pulled me in close. "Well, aren't you a hot little thing," he said. I blushed. "So, you want a drink and then maybe we can dance a little?" he asked. "Sure," I replied. "I'll be right back," he said.

(?'s POV)

She was definitely looking sexy tonight. It made me want her more. I walked up to the snack bar and grabbed a Diet Coke. When no one was looking, I quickly spiked it and stirred it up well. "What are you doing?" my sister said, catching me. "None of your business," I hissed. "I can't even believe you went for her in the first place," she said. "Can't you be a bitch somewhere else?" I questioned. She made a "hmph" sound and walked away. At least she was nice enough to not stop me.

(Alea's POV)  
"What's taking so long?" I questioned out loud to Tea. "Maybe he forgot what your favorite drink was," she suggested. "He wouldn't forget. I always have a Diet Coke when he takes me on a date," I said. "Well, he was probably focused on your body parts, not what you were drinking," Bakura said somewhat scornfully. There he went again with the whole bad attitude towards Michael.

Before I could say anything to him, Michael came up and handed me a Diet Coke. I knew he remembered! "What took so long?" I asked. "It was crowded up there," he said simply. "See, I knew there was a good reason," I said. I facing Tea, but I was looking at Bakura. He just rolled his eyes. I drank my Diet Coke and Michael pulled me to the dance floor the instant I was done.

We danced for a while, but then something felt wrong. My mind started getting fuzzy and my limbs started getting heavy. I began laughing for no particular reason and I started seeing double.

"Why…are there two of everyone?" I said. "Does…does everyone have a twin." I felt stupid when I was later told that this was what I had said. "You feeling okay, Angelface?" Michael asked. "I think…I think I need to sit down…or lie down…something," I said. "Here, let me take you some place quiet," Michael said. He put his hands on either side of me and led me away. I started seeing black spots…

(Bakura's POV)

I could see him leading her towards the stairs and I had a feeling inside me that this wasn't right. She looked like she was stumbling a lot. She actually looked like she was drunk. I knew Michael did this to her and I had to do something. I quickly walked over to them.

"Hey, we're leaving right now, so I thought I would come and get Alea," I said. "Don't worry, she can stay here for the night," he said. "Sorry, we really need to go…we including Alea," I said. "W-Where…where's the quiet place?" Alea asked in a rather slow and dumb tone. She _was _drunk.

Michael leaned close to me. "You think you got something on me?" he whispered. "You spiked her drink," I accused quietly. He smirked. "What are you gonna do about it? You can't get the police to arrest me," he whispered. He was right…I couldn't. But I could get Alea away from him. I took her by the arm and pulled her away from him. "Sorry…but we really have to go," I said. Before another word could be said, I walked away, holding Alea up to help her walk.

"Hey, where're you taking me?" she questioned. "To that quiet place," I replied. "Yyaaayyz," she slurred. The poor girl. Why did I let this happen to her? "Come on, Ryou. We're leaving," I said. "Aw! But I just started having fun," he whined. "Now!" I said firmly. He pouted and walked to the car with me. It was just him, Alea, and me in the car.

On the way back, Alea put her arm around Ryou's shoulder and leaned close to him. "You know…you know, I never told you this…but you are soooooooo fucking cute," she said. "I mean, I just wanna pinch your wittle cheeks you're so adorewable." Ryou's face had turned red. "Is she okay?" Ryou questioned. I made a motion saying that she was drunk. "Michael," I said.

She started having a laughing fit and she suddenly fell against the back of the passenger seat. She had passed out. When we reached home and got in the elevator, Alea was definitely out cold. We reached our floor. "Go on, I'm going to take Alea to her place," I told Ryou. He obediently got out. When we reached the top, I searched Alea's purse for her keys and unlocked the door. I laid her down on the couch.

I wanted to stay there and make sure she was okay, but that seemed somewhat awkward. It would be easier to just let Charlotte or Alex watch over her. I watched her for several long moments. She looked beautiful. No wonder a lot of boys liked her. I got a fuzzy feeling inside me. I really liked her, too, but not just as a friend. I knelt down next to her. I tried to fight the feeling I had, but I couldn't. She wouldn't know that I did this, so I moved my face next to hers and kissed her cheek. Michael didn't deserve her. Not at all…

(Michael's POV)

As the cleaning crew worked, I sat on the steps, pouting. Valorie walked past me, smirking. "What?" I questioned harshly. "Looks like my night wasn't the only one that was ruined," she said. "Go fuck yourself," I grumbled. "Don't need to," she said. "Cause unlike you, my boyfriend _is_ here. So you can fuck _yourself_." I wanted to slap her so hard. "Just wait," I said. "Give me a month and I'll be dropping her panties like that." *finger snap*.


	18. Cold Feelings, part 1

**FF to Beginning of Winter Break**

(Alea's POV)

I was so happy that Winter Break had finally come. Everything was so Christmasy at this time of year and it was snowing a lot. I had a date with Michael tonight at his house (which was kind of a first), so I wanted to be extra pretty. I put on a little more makeup than usual and wore a black mini-dress with skinny jeans and converses.

There was a knock on my door. "Come in!" I called. It was Bakura. "Hey," I said, still applying my eyeliner. "Hey," he said. "So, I heard you going over to Michael's house." Here we go again. "Yeah, cause that's what boyfriends and girlfriends do," I said. "What's it to you?"

"I don't think you should go," he said. "Why not?" I questioned, irritated. "You don't know what he could do to you," he replied. "Pfft, what do you know," I said, brushing him off. He came up and grabbed my eyeliner from me. "The hell!" I said. "I know a lot more than you think," he said. "Do you know what he did to you on Halloween? He spiked your drink and tried to take you to his room so he could do God knows what to you." I paused, a little stunned. "You're lying," I said. "I'm not!" he pressed.

"You know what, all this time I've been with him you've been nothing but rude towards him, but now you've tried to accuse him of something he didn't do? Look, if you can't handle my relationship with him, then why don't you just stay out of that part of my life," I said. He seemed pretty stunned. "And don't talk to me until you've changed your attitude about him."

His fisted tightened. He turned and stomped out. I sat down. As right as I probably was, that was a little hard to do. He was still my friend. "Alea," a voice said. I looked up and saw Ryou. "What was that all about?" he asked. "Nothing," I replied quickly. "Did you want something?"

"Yes, I thought I'd give you this for tonight," he said. He produced a little origami grasshopper from his pocket. "It brings good luck, so I thought maybe you could use some," he said. "Thanks…but why do you think I need good luck?" I asked. "Well, who knows? It might come in handy at some point," he said. I smiled. "Thanks," I said again. He smiled back and left.

I put it in my purse and headed downstairs. I still wondered...Why would I need good luck?


	19. Michael's True Colors, part 2

(Alea's POV)

I waited impatiently in the parking lot. Michael was running a half hour late. Where the heck was he? Finally, I saw his red Ferrari pull up around the corner. He rolled down the window as he approached me. "Hey, Angelface," he said. "Sorry about the timing. I had some things I had to do."

"It's fine, as long as have a good reason, right?" I said, smiling. I got in the car and we drove to his house. It was pretty well decorated, though they probably paid someone to do it.

When we got inside and walked up the stairs, I started thinking about Bakura. I don't know why I did, he just popped into my head. I'd have to apologize to him about blowing up at him earlier. Hopefully he'd change his attitude tomorrow. "What's wrong, Angelface?" Michael asked. "Nothing," I said, shaking myself back to the present.

As we continued walking, obviously heading towards his room, I heard a noise coming from a slightly cracked door. I couldn't help but peek inside. What I saw would possible haunt me, but would also make for perfect blackmail. I saw Valorie and Seto on a bed, Valorie ontop and making out like crazy with him. I wish I had my camera. My cheeks puffed up when I tried to contain my laughter. "Is that…common?" I asked when I caught up to Michael. "More than it should be," he said. "If only I had my camera, then I could have some seriously dirty blackmail," I said. Michael chuckled.

We reached his room and walked in. It was a pretty nice room. I noticed a corkboard across from his bed filled with pictures tacked onto it. Upon further inspection, I saw that they were pictures of me. But there was something odd. Most of these were of me with my friends in locations and during times when he was not with me. It seemed a bit…obsessive. "Do you like it?" Michael asked. "Uh…yeah, I suppose," I said.

"Sit down," he said, motioning at the bed. I did so, but awkwardly. He walked over to the door, closed it, and, oddly, locked it. "What are you doing?" I questioned. He smiled slyly at me. "What?" I inquired. He suddenly pushed me down and got on top of me. "W-What are you doing?" I questioned, afraid. "Come on, Angelface," he said. "You want this."

"No! I don't!" I exclaimed. "Please, get off me!" But he silenced me by forcing his lips to mine. He started unzipping my pants. I tried to stop him, but to no avail. When he finally pulled his lips away, I let out a loud scream. No one could hear me.

Running out of time, I kneed him in the crotch, forcing him off of me. I scrambled to zip up my pants and rushed to a window, trying to open it. It was slow going, for it was stuck. "You little bitch," I heard Michael say. He was coming at me. I ran into the bathroom and got behind the open door. When he was in the right spot, I slammed the door into him, knocking him to the ground in pain. I quickly went back to the window and, after a lot of shoving, was able to open it.

I looked down. It was a long drop to the ground. Luckily, however, there were vines growing on the side of the house. I heard Michael getting up, so with no other options, I grabbed hold of a strong vine and started climbing down.

When I reached the 2/3 mark, Michael appeared in the window. He grabbed the top of the vine and started pulling it from the wall. I tried to make my way down faster, but he pulled the vine all the way out. I fell to the ground. I was dazed for a few minutes before I finally stumbled up and ran towards the gate.

"Alea!" an angry voice said from the front door. Michael started running after me. I reached the gate, but to my utter despair, it was locked and I had completely forgotten the code. I had to jump it. I went to the brick wall portion of it and began climbing the footholds. However, as soon as my hands touched the top, I felt him grab my leg. "You won't get away that easily," he said.

He pulled down. "No!" I screamed, my grip on the top of the wall loosening. He pulled down again. My grip loosened again.

Why didn't I listen to Bakura? He was completely right about this! My eyes watered. I wished he was here right now. I needed him so terribly.

_Bakura, help me! _I screamed in my head.

"BAKURA!" I screamed out loud.

He pulled down one more time. My hands let go…


	20. Significant Other, part 3

(Alea's POV)

"Hold on, Alea!" a familiar voice said. I looked up and saw what looked like a white angel dressed in black. But when my eyes focused more, who I saw was no different than what I thought he was. "Bakura," I breathed. "Hold on tight! I'll pull you over!" he said.

I tried to pull myself up to him, but Michael pulled back down. "You won't get her away from me!" he said. My grip on Bakura started to slip. "Don't worry! I won't let you go!" Bakura said. I tried to pull up again, but once again Michael pulled me back down. Anymore of this and I would be torn in half. I needed to put more of my own effort into this. Thinking of nothing else, I kicked Michael hard in the face, forcing him to let go of me. Bakura pulled me over the wall.

"Hurry!" he said, taking hold of my arm. He took me over to a motorcycle (he must've borrowed it from Tsukiko) and we got on. I could hear Michael starting to get up on the other side of the wall. "Alea!" he growled. "Go!" I urged. Bakura started up the motorcycle and we sped away.

I could not comprehend what had just happened. Michael had just tried to rape me. This was the most frightening experience of my life. Tears flew from my eyes as we rode down the streets of New York City. We finally reached the Belmont Building. Bakura drove into the garage and got off the motorcycle, but I remained on, still crying. "Alea," Bakura said softly.

He gently put his hands on my arms and got down to my eye level. "Just tell me what happened," he said. I took a long moment, then I threw myself into his arms. "It was so terrible, Bakura!" I cried. "Michael tried to rape me!" He felt frozen. His grip tightened on me. "Alea…I'm so sorry," he said. He allowed me to cry for as long as I needed to, even if my dripping mascara was staining his shirt. "It's okay," he whispered. "He's not going to hurt you…not as long as I'm here."

"Bakura," I said.

"Yes?"

"…Could I…maybe stay with you and Ryou for a while?" I asked.

I looked up at him. He smiled softly. "Of course," he said. "Thank you…so much," I said, hugging him. "Let's go get some of your things," he said. As we walked to the elevator, he held my hands in a comforting way. He continued to do so as we waited to get up to my floor. When we got there, I packed several things into a duffle bag and picked up Toph and Midnight. Bakura helped get their toys and food.

"I should probably tell Charlotte what's going on, so she won't worry," I said. He nodded. When I knocked on her door, Alex was the one who answered. "Hey, Alex, is your mom here?" I asked. "Yeah, but she's asleep," she said. "Oh…well, could you tell your mom something?"

"Sure."

"Tell her that I'm staying with Bakura and Ryou for a while, but I don't know how long."

"Why?"

I was hesitant to tell her. "Um…could you keep it a secret from your mom?"

"Keep what a secret?"

"Uh…" I leaned close to her ear. "M-Michael…tried to rape me earlier…I'm scared to be alone…I'm afraid of him," I whispered. Alex held her hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh, no," she breathed. "Just tell your mom that they asked me to stay over," I said. "Okay," she said. "I hope you'll be alright."

"Thanks," I said. We started to walk away. "Tell Tsukiko I said 'hi'," she said. "Tell her I sent her extra Christmas kisses." That made me smile a bit. "I will," I said. _Oh, my sweet lesbian friends,_ I thought. _How could anyone dislike their relationship? _We continued back to Bakura and Ryou's apartment.

When we entered, I was a bit surprised at how much Christmas decoration there was. But it was certainly obvious whose work this was. Ryou. "Alea!" Ryou said in surprise. "You're back early." "Uh…yeah…things didn't quite work out as I planned," I said. "Why not?" Ryou questioned. I didn't really want to say why. Ryou would absolutely freak out if I told him. "Uh…something came up, that's all," I fibbed. "Oh," was all he said.

"Alea will be staying with us for a while," Bakura explained. "Oh, how wonderful!" Ryou exclaimed. I was so glad that he didn't ask why. "But, may I ask why?" he said. F*ck! "Do you really have to be so nosey?" Bakura questioned. Ryou blushed in slight embarrassment. "Dudes! What's the hold up?" Tsukiko called from another room. "Can't keep this Guitar Battle paused forever!" The mention of Guitar Hero made me want to play. Anything to get my mind off tonight's earlier events. We went into the living room, where Toph practically jumped onto Tsukiko's lap, and Midnight pounced onto a chair and curled up. She had somewhat of a sly look on her face, indicating that she knew that had and deliberately stolen someone's seat. I wasn't surprised when I found out it was Ryou's, who sighed and sat down on the floor.

"Well, it's nice to see you here, Alea," Tsukiko said. "And a little visit from your adorable roommate is always a pleasure." She ruffled Toph's fur. "Thanks," I said. "By the way, Alex said 'hi'…and she sends you extra Christmas kisses." That was the first time I had actually seen her blush. Like bright red blush. I joined in on the Guitar Hero competition, but I got totaled by both Tsukiko and Bakura (they were both on Expert and were really good. I was on Medium.). Luckily I had a better win streak when I was battling against Ryou. He was just a beginner, though, so I refrained from the typical "in your face" victory yells.

It began getting late, so we decided to settle down. I went to go change when I heard Tsukiko yell from another bathroom, "Yo, Bakura! Your toilets majorly clogged up, man!" I could hear Bakura groan. When I finished changing, I walked out and got an urge to laugh out loud. Why? Well, sitting on the sofa was Ryou dressed in light blue pajamas with puffy white clouds on them and fuzzy bunny slippers on his feet. I mean, could the guy look any cuter?

"Alea…is something wrong?" he asked. My cheeks had puffed up like a frog. I walked over to him and gave him a huge hug, not bothering to contain my laughter. "Oh, Ryou," I said. "You can just unconsciously brighten my day by a half." His face looked like a cherry. "I-I can?" he stuttered. I nodded. "And I so needed it after earlier this night," I said. "Earlier?" he questioned. Uh oh. I had just practically blown my ruse. Oh, well. He would find out sooner or later.

"Um…don't tell anyone else this, Ryou…only you, Bakura, and Alex know right now," I said. "Earlier tonight…Michael tried to rape me."

"He what?" he exclaimed. I slammed my hand over his mouth. "Sssh!" I said. "We don't know if anyone else is listening." I was surprised by my own paranoia. "I just wish we could sick the police on that scumbag," Bakura said, walking in. "But his 'mommy' would just bail him out." He was right. It was no use trying to get him arrested. Boy, I didn't want school to resume at all.

"Whew! Man, am I beat," Tsukiko said, walking in and stretching her arms. As she walked by me, she put her hand on my shoulder and stroked it as she passed. Bakura probably told her. She sat down on a chair, Ryou lay down on an air mattress, and Bakura and I sat down on the couch. Tsukiko and Ryou were out within minutes.

"Thank you," I said. "For being there for me." Bakura wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me close. "I'll always be there for you," he said. "Even after blowing up at you?" I asked. "Of course," he said. "Bakura…you had your suspicions about Michael, and you were right…I was just too stupid to listen," I said. "No," Bakura said. "You're not stupid…he's just that good of a liar."

"So…why did you go there?" I asked. "I wanted to make sure you were alright," he said. "When I heard you scream I knew something was wrong."

"Bakura," I said. "I'm so grateful to have you in my life." He held me closer. I don't know why, but I always felt safe with him.

Suddenly, I felt something small land on my leg. It was white and round, like a bead. I looked up to see where it came from and broke into a small sweat. "Uh…Bakura," I said. "Yeah?" "Look up." We both stared up at a small clump of mistletoe that was hanging right above us. We looked at each other, both blushing. "Silly tradition, isn't it?" Bakura said. "Y-Yeah," I replied.

I then remembered the fortune I got on my first day of school: Your significant other is closer than you think. Maybe it was talking about Bakura. I mean, we were so alike in a lot of ways. Why wouldn't it be him.

In that moment, our lips touched. I got a feeling that I never really got when I kissed Michael. I got a feeling of _real _love. We pulled back in slight surprise. "Did we really just do that?" I questioned. "Yeah," Bakura said. "I think I want to do that again." We went in for another kiss. It felt so right and so good. I knew Bakura was the one I really wanted to be with.

As the hour passed, we listened to the funny noises Tsukiko and Ryou were making in their sleep. Tsukiko snored so loud for a girl, and I swore she could shake the house. But what was funny about Ryou was that every time Tsukiko snored, he would let out something that sounded like "chu". How adorable. So Bakura and I came up with a little joke. Every time Tsukiko would snore, we'd say "pika", and then it would end with Ryou's "chu". "Pika." "Chu." "Pika." "Chu." "Pikachu."

After doing that several times, I became tired and laid down on the sofa. Bakura sat down on the floor, his head next to mine. Maybe tonight…wasn't as bad as I thought it was.

**There is the satisfying result. Ch. 21 coming soon. Btw check out 's story **


	21. Cold Aftermath

(Alea's POV)

The next morning, I woke up to the smell of pancakes. Ryou was obviously the cause of it. He loved pancakes above all other breakfast foods. When I sat up, I could see that Bakura was still asleep. Knowing he was as heavy a sleeper as I was, I didn't make any move to wake him.

I went into the bathroom to take care of my morning business. Suddenly, I heard a beeping sound from my purse, which I had accidentally left on the sink. I reached in and took out my phone. I was receiving a text. _Maybe Alex checking on me_. I thought. But the name that appeared on the screen was the last thing I expected.

'Michael White'. Hadn't he done enough damage already? Or did he honestly think I was going to forgive him? I opened the text. The words made my blood go cold. "If you tell anyone what happened last night, I'll hurt your little friend Ryou so bad that he won't look so cute anymore," it said.

How could he make such a terrible threat like that! My heart beat fast. I quickly ran cold water into the sink and splashed some onto my face. I had to pull myself together. I couldn't just walk out of there looking like I had seen a ghost. I took a deep breath and walked out acting like I was still waking up.

"Breakfast time!" Ryou called, banging a spoon on a frying pan. Bakura woke up with a jump, groaned, and walked slowly to the table. "Finally! I'm starved," Tsukiko said. I sat down next to Bakura. He looked at me from the corner of his eye, looking slightly concerned. He knew something wasn't right. He reached his hand under the table and lightly placed it on mine.

_Bakura…as long as I have you, I know that I'm safe…and I hope Ryou is, too._


	22. Gifts

**Ok, so the next couple chapters are going to involve a new and very important character who is a Yami Alea! **

**FF to Christmas Day**

(Alea's POV)

"Gosh! I can't believe all the presents Mom and Dad sent us!" I exclaimed upon opening a large box we had gotten in the mail. My parents were nice enough to get a few presents for Ryou and Bakura, since their father only sent them one each. Not only was I surprised by the quantity of the gifts, but I was also surprised at the number of places they were from: Amsterdam, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Russia, Japan, China, and India.

"Wow, how well do your parents get around?" Bakura said. "Well, their new job gets them around to a lot of places in the world," replied. We dug into the pile of gifts. I was amazed at all the fine souvenirs: an Amsterdam clock tower wall clock, a snow globe with the Eiffel Tower inside, a pine music box, Swiss chocolate (favorite!), a Babushka doll, two marble models of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Colosseum, a real samurai sword, a porcelain tea set, an small ivory elephant, an ebony cat statuette, a Greek theater mask, three Evil Eye pendants, and many other gifts.

"We so hit the jackpot this year!" I exclaimed. "No kidding," Ryou agreed. "I needed a new tea set." How very British. "Wait," Bakura said. "We missed two more…and they're signed to you and me, Alea…but, this larger one…it's from my father. I guess that's his 'one Christmas gift'." He gave me the smaller package. It was from Egypt.

I felt something strange inside me as I held the package, like there was a strange force coming from it. Bakura looked like he felt the same thing I did. We looked at each other. "Let's open them on three," I said. "One…two…three!" We ripped open the packages until we found what was inside them.

Both our gifts looked similar. Mine was a gold bracelet with the Eye of Wadjet on it, and his was a strange necklace in the shape of a ring with five needles on it and the Eye of Wadjet in the center. "Wow…these are pretty cool, huh?" I said. "Yeah," Bakura agreed. "But…there's just a really weird aura coming from it, yet I can't quite explain what it is."

"Same here," I said. "An unexplainable feeling."

"Maybe just hunger," Ryou said. "I'll go and make us a Christmas breakfast."

I then noticed a note leftover in the box. Bakura and I looked at it together. "Dear Alea and Bakura, the two items we sent you are called the Millennium Bracelet and the Millennium Ring. The woman who sold them to us said that they were two of eight that used to belong to a line of ancient priests and priestesses and have mystical powers. Imagine that. Hope you like them. Love, Mom and Dad (Kat and Mark)."

"Mystical powers?" I wondered. I then remembered that Yugi had something that also looked like what we had received. He said I was called the Millennium Puzzle. If these "Millennium Items" all looked the same and there were the only ones of their kind, maybe they did have some sort of power. But what?

Well, I'd leave that for later. I was starving and Ryou had just made strawberry waffles, biscuits, eggs, and corned beef hash. It was time to chow down in front of the TV and watch the Christmas specials the whole day.

And I couldn't think of any other two people to do that with than my new and obviously perfectly matched boyfriend, Bakura, and his adorable twin brother, Ryou.

**11:59 p.m.**

***Alea's Dream* **I was once again walking down the hall of mirrors that showed not my reflection, but those of the spirits. There was a new one…Michael. I walked quickly past that one. When I reached the one that normally held the one that looked like Bakura, it was empty. Maybe because after I realized Michael was the bad guy, I stopped seeing him as it. I soon reached the large mirror that contained the darker and sad-looking "me". She looked at me, her hands against the glass.

She looked ready to get out of there. "I'm sorry," I said. "If I could get you out, I would, but I don't know how." She closed her eyes and smiled a small, soft smile. Her lips moved and it looked like she was saying, "It's okay…you already have." The glass began to crack and I backed away. The crack began to glow and suddenly the glass burst open, the light blinding me. I shot up in the guest bed. ***End Dream***

I looked around. That was the first time that dream had taken a different turn. But I woke up too fast and I didn't get to find out who she was. Maybe if I went back to sleep I'd find out. But sleep was not going to be and option, because I heard what sounded like a groan and quiet, heavy breathing on the guest room floor right next to the bed. I looked over and was beyond shocked when I saw…

**Suspense! XD Make sure to check out MCarlisle's story.**


	23. Spirits

(Alea's POV)

"You," I breathed, seeing the girl from my dream lying on the floor half-conscious. The only difference was that instead of wearing the same clothes I had on, she wore a dark grey-brown zip up dress with sleeves that exposed her shoulders and were slit from her wrists to her elbows, same colored thigh-high boots, and a black choker with a cross pendant. She was also missing her bat wings.

I got down on the floor. "Hey, are you alright?" I asked, touching her shoulder. She moved a little, but that was it. I didn't know what to do. I guess all I could do was wait until she woke up. I sat there for hours, just waiting for her to stir.

I kept wondering _Who is she? Where did she come from? Is she even real? _But what had gotten my attention the most was that she looked like my twin sister (as my parents described) that had died in surgery when we were born conjoined. I put my hand on my left eye. Was this possibly her spirit?

I kept waiting, fighting the sleep that was overcoming me. The first small lights of day started coming through the curtains. It was already 6:30. That's when she started to move. I tensed in anticipation. There were so many things I wanted to ask her. She struggled to lift herself up, but she was able to get herself up to a kneeling position. Her eyes opened. They were the same dark red eyes from my dream and of my dead twin sister.

She looked up at me. "S….Sister?" she said quietly. That's exactly what was about to ask her. I moved closer to her. I wanted to say something, but after the "sister?" comment, I didn't know what to say. We just looked into each other's eyes. "Sister," she repeated. "Amisi." That didn't sound right. Wasn't she supposed to say "Alea"? "No…my name is Alea," I said. "Alea?" she repeated quietly. "What's your name?" I asked. "Destria," she replied. "You're not Amisi….my sister?"

"I don't know," I said. "I'm wondering whether or not you're my dead sister…the one who gave me this eye." She looked at my left eye. She reached her hand up to it and lightly touched her fingertips underneath it. "Amisi," she said quietly. "…Alea." Her eyes watered up a little and she fell into my arms, crying. All I could do was hold her. Her appearance always made her seem like an evil spirit, but she now seemed like just a little girl.

When she was finished crying, she lifted herself back up to a sitting position. "Are you alright now?" I asked. She nodded. "Come on, let's go into the kitchen," I said getting up. When I started walking, I noticed she wasn't following. It looked as though she couldn't get up. "Can't you walk?" I asked. I guess all that time spent behind the mirror didn't do her legs any good.

She tried to get up on her feet, but stumbled and started to fall. I quickly caught her and helped her stand up on her feet. "There…now try to get your balance," I said. She wobbled a little, but was soon able to get her legs solidly grounded. I was a little surprised to see that she was slightly taller than me. Well, must've been the heels on her boots. "Okay, just take it slow and one step at a time." I took hold of her hands and started walking backwards. She took small steps, stumbled a little, but was able to keep her balance most of the time.

Once we reached one end of the room, it was time to see if she could do it on her own. "Okay, now walk to me," I said. She took one step, balanced herself, and continued onward. She did really well for a first time. I guess she just needed to refresh her legs to get them working again. She stopped one inch before me. "You did great," I said. "You just needed to remember." She hugged me. "Thank you…Alea," she said. I got a warm feeling inside me. "Let's go get something to drink, you probably want something after all that time in the mirror." She nodded and followed me into the kitchen.

**Rewind to 3:00 a.m.**

(Bakura's POV)

I sprang up in bed in a cold sweat. I had such a strange dream. Horrible, actually. I was looking down at Domino City….burning. Alea and Ryou were nowhere to be found. I felt so alone. But the main feature of my dream was the Millennium Ring I had received yesterday. It was the cause of the burning city. I reached over to my nightstand and picked it up. I looked at it for several long moments before putting it on.

Nothing. Maybe my mind was just playing tricks on me. However, when I was about to put it back, it started glowing and it began burning my chest. I fell off the bed and onto the floor, writhing in pain. "What…is this?" I got out. Suddenly, a voice said, "I need a new vessel, and your body is exactly the one I've been looking for."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" I questioned. "You are my new host," the voice replied. "Host? Are you some sort of parasite?" I said. I kept trying to get the Ring off me until I was finally able to pry it off and throw it into a corner. There was a large burn mark on my abdomen in the shape of the Ring.

I heard someone coming towards my room and I quickly put a shirt on. Ryou walked in. "Is something wrong, Bakura?" he asked worriedly. "I heard a lot of struggling and…"

"I'm fine," I said. "I just had a really bad nightmare." I walked over and picked up the Ring, putting it in the box it came in. "Everything's fine, Ryou," I said. "Go back to bed." He just nodded and left. I grabbed some duct tape and wrapped a thick strip around the box. For the moment, I didn't want anything to do with it. Something was wrong with that Ring.

**FF to 6:45 a.m.**

(Alea's POV)

Destria sat down at the table while I took out a box of hot chocolate mix that mom and dad had sent me from Switzerland. She was quiet as I prepared it. I took out some marshmallows and whipped cream and put some in each of ours. I then sat down across from her.

"So…where are you from?" I asked. "Well, I used to belong in Heaven, but I then got moved to Hell," she replied. So she really wasn't a spirit of hell. Her origin was Heaven. "How did you get to Hell?" I asked. "Well…it's kind of a long story," she said. "I've got time," I said. She sighed. "Okay…it all started over 5,000 years ago," she began. "My sister, Amisi, and I were two angels of God. One day, the kingdom of Hell started getting out of hand and more evil spirits were escaping into the world. Someone had to go there and get everything under control. But the only way to do that was to become a fallen angel. As you would think, everyone was afraid to take the job."

"Except you?"

"…Yes. Someone had to do something and I figured that it should be me, the Angel of Destruction. So I willing volunteered to go and was stripped of my title as an angel."

"…Oh," was all I could say. "But even though I belong in Hell now and I am under the rule of Satan…I still believe God still loves me…because, like you humans do, I still feel him with me," she said, touching the cross pendant on her choker. I took a small sip of my hot chocolate. "I'm sure it was hard for him to let one of his angels go like that," I said. She nodded. "But he knew it was the right thing to do, as did I." I was never much of a church goer in my life, so I wasn't used to talking religiously, but I still believed in God and being able to talk to one of his former angels was a little exciting.

"Am I the only one who can see you?" I asked. "Yes," she replied.

"Why is that?"

"The Millennium Bracelet you possess…is what I have been trapped in for a long time. When you received it and put it on, you became a vessel for my spirit to reside in."

"A vessel?"

"Yes. And that's why you are the only one who can see me."

"I see."

She finished off her hot chocolate. "But I just wish your boyfriend hadn't received the Millennium Ring."

"How come?"

"Because it—" Just then I heard footsteps. Ryou was coming. We had to stop the conversation there. "I'll explain later," she said before disappearing. I quickly took her hot chocolate mug and washed it in the sink.

"You're up early," Ryou said in surprise. "Yeah," I replied. "I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep." "I understand," he said. "But you made hot chocolate without me?" He had a cute puppy dog look on his face. "Hey, come on, I'll make you some," I said.

After making him a cup, I decided to go check on Bakura. When I peeked inside, I noticed that the box that the Ring had come in was duct taped. I wonder if Bakura knew what Destria was trying to tell me.


	24. New Year's Eve! pt 1 Surprise Surprise!

**FF to New Year's Eve**

(Alea's POV)

I finished applying the last of my makeup when there was a knock at the door. I was finally able to be back in my own apartment without being too afraid. Although…I did miss being with Bakura and Ryou. "Coming!" I called.

I was about to walk out of my room when I caught sight of the Millennium Bracelet, which I had left on a small table next to my red recliner. I hesitated on whether or not to bring it along. I had my doubts on how Destria would behave (being if there would actually be a chance that anyone would be able to see her. Then again, I did want to ask Yugi about his Millennium Puzzle, and having the Bracelet on hand would be my backup for why I was asking.

I decided I would bring it along. I took it and put it on my wrist. "Don't try to do anything…unnecessary," I said. "Not unless you tell me to," she said. "Besides, I have no interest in coming out." She seemed so serious all the time. I mean, I know she has had some hardships during her life, but still. It made it a little hard to talk to her.

I rushed downstairs, not wanting to keep my friends waiting. We were already running late to Stefani's New Year's Eve party. I opened the door to find Bakura, Ryou, Tsukiko, and Alex all dressed in New Years Eve colors: black, gold, and white (I know there are more colors to New Year's Eve, but these are the ones Stefani designated for her party).

"You ready to go?" Tsukiko asked.

"You know it," I replied.

As we walked to the elevator, Bakura held my hand. I smiled and blushed._ What_ _a boyfriend thing to do._ But as we waited inside the elevator, I noticed Ryou look at us for a brief moment, then quickly look away. He didn't look as happy as he normally was. I realized that he started looking this way when Bakura and I started holding hands.

_Oh, no. _I thought.

I felt so heartless. I didn't even think about this. Ryou must've had a crush on me! I quickly pulled my hand from Bakura's. He seemed confused.

When we reached the ground floor, Bakura took me to his newly bought motorcycle while Ryou went with Alex and Tsukiko in Tsukiko's silver Mustang. As Bakura and I started down the road, the subject had to come up.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Bakura," I said. "I didn't mean to…it's just…well, I think Ryou might have a crush on me."

Bakura seemed a little surprised, but I could tell that he might have figured so.

"I didn't want to torture him like that…him being as sensitive as he is," I explained. "Again, I'm sorry I did it so quickly."

"It's fine," Bakura said. "But then again, why wouldn't he have a crush on you…you're pretty, sweet…" He would've gone on, but he knew I already knew all that. I smiled and rested my head against his back.

As I looked at the passing scenery, I caught sight of an upcoming mansion with bright lights and loud music. It was the White's mansion. I tightened my grip around Bakura as we passed by it.

"It's okay," he assured me. "He's not going to hurt you again as long as I'm around."

Finally, we reached Stefani's. It looked like Alex, Tsukiko, and Ryou had already beaten us there.

"I guess they took a shortcut," I said.

As we walked up to the door, I noticed something was off. There were barely any lights on and I heard no music. That was weird. But I didn't let it bother me. I rang the door bell and Stefani answered it.

"Hey, Stef," I greeted. "Where's the party?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll all be here soon," she reassured us.

She led us down the hall and into a dark room. "Is this where your party is?" I questioned, in slight disbelief. "Well…not my party," she said, switching on the lights.

"Surprise!" a huge group of all my friends shouted. "Happy Birthday, Alea!"

I felt like I would have a heart attack. I didn't expect Stefani's New Year's Eve party to be my birthday party, too (even if it was on New Year's Day, but who's complaining?).

"Oh my god," I said. "I can't believe you would do this for me, you guys."

"Aw, why wouldn't we, Alea?" Tea said.

"Yeah, just because your birthday's on a holiday doesn't mean you shouldn't have a big party," Joey said.

I felt so happy. I was so lucky to have friends like these. "Oh…thanks, you guys," I said. "I really appreciate this."

"Alright, let's get this party started!" Stefani shouted. Everyone started cheering as Devon started playing All the Small Things by Blink 182 on the loud speakers. Everyone gave me presents and we had a three tier angel food cake with vanilla fondant and butter cream icing, along with a bunch of party crackers. Devon was playing all my favorite songs and there were Guitar Hero and Wii Sports competitions. Everything was going great.

That's when I bumped into Yugi.

"Hey, Alea," he said.

"Hi, Yugi," I said back. That's when I remembered that I wanted to talk to him about his Puzzle.

"Hey, Yugi," I said. "Could I possibly talk to you…alone?"

"Uh, sure," he said.

We went outside and started walking around the pool. "So…what did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Well…I wanted to ask you about your Millennium Puzzle," I said.

"Okay," he said.

"Um…has anything…strange…ever happened when you're alone wearing it?" I asked. He seemed a little surprised.

"Well, now that you mention it…I have felt like there is someone inside me," he admitted. "Sometimes even with me."

"…Really," I said.

"Why do you ask?" he questioned.

"Well, you see, I got this for Christmas," I said, showing him the Millennium Bracelet. "And…I've felt the same thing you said you did."

"Seems pretty weird, huh?" he said.

"Yeah," I said. "And, I mean, Bakura got something called the Millennium Ring, so I don't know if he's experienced the exact same thing we did…although he did seal it up in a box with duct tape, so maybe…"

"Maybe what he felt was-"

"Hey, Yugi!" Joey called from the doorway. "We need another player for Guitar Hero!"

"Coming!" Yugi called. "Sorry, Alea. We'll have to talk about this another time."

"It's okay," I said. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy." He nodded in understanding and left.

I sighed. "I wish I could have introduced you," I said.

"Not yet," she said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"It's not the time," she replied.

Destria really confused me sometimes. I didn't know what the whole deal with "right time" was. Just another thing that really made it hard to talk to her. But…I couldn't begrudge her. She knew more about this stuff than I did.

I was about to go inside when I saw someone sitting at the table under the poolside gazebo. As I got closer, I was surprised to see…


	25. New Year's Eve! pt 2 Kiss

(Alea's POV)

"Ryou?" I said.

He jumped a little and instantly stood up when he saw me.

"Oh…hello, Alea," he said a little nervously.

"Hi," I said. "So…what are you doing out here?"

"Oh…I was just thinking," he said. "That's all."

"…is it?" I questioned.

His eyes and head lowered a little bit. I didn't like it when he was sad like this. I had to talk to him.

"May I sit down with you?" I asked. He seemed to brighten up just a little bit. I walked onto the gazebo and sat down on one of the white café-style chairs. We sat in silence for a moment. I started.

"I know why you're out here," I said. He seemed slightly surprised. "You don't want to say it, but I understand," I said. I touch his hand lightly.

Suddenly, I saw his eyes begin to water. "Ryou," I said quietly. In that instant, he hugged me tightly. My shoulder became wet from his tears.

_Oh no! _I thought. _I didn't mean to make him cry! _"Ryou…I'm so sorry," I quickly apologized.

"No," he said. "You don't need to…I'm just being my sensitive self."

"Well, you are," I said. "But that's only partially true." He looked at me through his watery eyes, slightly confused. "I know you have a crush on me…and you're depressed that I chose your brother over you," I said. He seemed to become a little sadder. I had to say something else to make him feel a little better. But what?

"But, I mean, it's okay to feel that way sometimes, but you can't hurt yourself over it," I said. It didn't do anything. God! I was really screwing this up. I was never known for having a way with words.

"Because it's not that I don't like you, because I really, really do, it's just I don't lo—" Don't even think about saying it! All I had now was one quick move that would quite possibly end this struggle.

"Oh! The hell with it!" I exclaimed before taking Ryou's face in my hands and gave him a huge kiss on the lips.

I pulled away slowly. He seemed to be completely stunned. He wasn't crying any more, but he looked completely frozen. His eyes started rolling back and he started falling back.

"Whoa!" I said, catching him. "Don't fall out on me now."

His face was rosy red and his eyes seemed to sparkle. He was almost back to normal, he just needed to snap out of his daze.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "Better than usual, actually."

I helped him stand up straight. "Ryou," I said gently. "I really, really like you…but I'm not meant for you." He nodded a little. "But," I continued. "I know that there is someone out there who _is _meant for you…you just have to wait for her." He smiled and nodded in understanding.

"Thank you, Alea," he said.

"Anything for the adorable brother of my boyfriend," I said, ruffling his hair. He blushed.

"Hey, you two!" Stefani called from the doorway. "Come in! You're gonna miss the countdown!" We rushed inside, where Stefani had the live viewing of Time Square where the time ball was one minute away from dropping.

I quickly found Bakura, since it was tradition that you had to kiss someone on the New Year.

50 seconds left.

"Here," Bakura said, producing a small box from his pocket. "Open it before the New Year comes."

40 seconds left.

I quickly unwrapped it and opened the box.

30 seconds left.

It was a necklace with a cut chrysoprase pendant on a silver chain.

"Bakura," I breathed. "It's absolutely beautiful."

20 seconds left.

"Just like you," he said, smiling. I blushed radiantly.

He pulled me close to him as the 10 second countdown began.

"10! 9! 8! 7!" everyone started chanting.

"Happy Birthday, Alea," Bakura said.

"6! 5! 4! 3!"

"Happy New Year, Bakura," I said.

"2! 1! Happy New Year!"

Our lips touched just as Devon started playing Tonight Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae. It was certainly the best New Year so far. Ryou wasn't sad anymore. I was having a huge birthday party. And I was able to welcome the New Year with my soul mate. I was so happy.


	26. Torment

**FF to Monday After Winter Break**

(Bakura's POV)

I wasn't very excited about going back to school, and for two good reasons. One, who the bloody hell even wants to go back to school (well…aside from Ryou); and two, there was a certain someone I knew I was going to see and who I really wanted to beat the living hell out of. It was bad enough that he attempted to rape the only girl I've ever had a real relationship with, but now he was threatening to hurt my brother.

He was going way too far this time. But…I had to keep my cool. Fighting wouldn't solve anything. I should know that from the many times I had gotten in trouble at the Central Foundation Boys' School whenever I picked fights with bullies who picked on my brother. But I always felt that people like those bullies and Michael needed to know the amount of pain they were causing someone.

However, I remembered that Ryou always said they would get what's coming to them in the end and that it was not our decision what happened to them. I tried to keep telling myself that whenever I got mad at someone…but my anger always seemed to get the better of me.

I bent over the sink and splashed water in my face. _Come on! Pull yourself together! _I said to myself. _You can make it through today without putting a fist in someone's face!_ I dried my face off with a towel and put on my uniform.

There was a knock on my bedroom door. "Time to go, Bakura," Ryou said, his eyes beaming. "Time for another great semester!"

"Honestly, how can you be excited about school?" I asked, annoyed. It was too early in the morning for enthusiasm. I grabbed my bag, motorcycle keys, and helmet.

_I have to really be by Alea's side today…_

(Alea's POV)

I ran to meet Bakura at the garage. I had no idea how this day would turn out. I was facing Michael's threats, Valorie's possible rumors, and God knows what else. But as long as I was with Bakura I would be okay. I met him by his motorcycle.

"Ready?" he asked.

I sighed. "As I'll ever be," I replied.

He softly touched my cheek. "Don't worry," he said. "Everything's going to be alright."

I had to trust him. I nodded and got on the motorcycle. We sped towards Domino High. When we arrived, I was glad to see no one was staring in my general direction. Bakura helped me off the motorcycle.

As we walked to our lockers, I clung tightly to Bakura's arm. My grip soon tightened when I saw that frightening figure standing two lockers down from mine. I froze. "I can't," I said. Bakura touched my hand gently.

"I'll be between you and him," he assured me. "I won't let anything happen."

I walked to my locker and Bakura leaned against the one next to mine, blocking me from Michael's view.

"Hey there, Angelface," he said.

My fist clenched. "Don't call me that," I said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, sorry…Angeleyes," he said.

"Hey! Leave her alone," Bakura said. "Haven't you tormented her enough?"

"What are you gonna do about it, you limey pansy?" Michael questioned.

I wish he hadn't said that. That could easily send Bakura into a serious rage. He absolutely hated it when people called him "limey", and for a British guy, he really fought like an American guy. I could tell that fists were about to fly.

"You wanna say that again?" Bakura said.

Michael got up in his face. "Limey…pansy!" he repeated.

"You just signed your death certificate," Bakura growled. He had his fists clenched and looked like he was ready to punch Michael right in the face.

I pulled him back. "Bakura, don't," I said. "It's not going to make things any better."

"Yeah, Bakura," Michael mocked as he turned to walk away. "Why don't you listen to your little bitch."

"Shut up, you bastard!" Bakura yelled.

"Bakura, let's just get to class," I said, not wanting anything else to ignite.

Bakura signed and nodded, knowing that there was nothing that could be done.

The day went by as it normally would, and I felt a little more secure. I was even secure in my one class where Bakura wasn't with me: P.E. Hitting a few birdies in badminton with Tsukiko and Joey really helped relax my nerves. Of course, Valorie and her friends always gave me stares and glances when I walked by, but that was all too normal.

I said the day went normal, but one class period wasn't very normal: English Honors. I needed to go to the restroom and asked Mrs. Cox if I could be excused. She signed my agenda book and I went out to the hall and into the restroom. As I finished up, I heard a fairly large group of girls outside the stall. Must've been girls who had Study Hall.

I walked out of the stall only to come face to face with Valorie and her group of "purse dogs". They all looked at one another and started giggling. It was the kind of giggle that someone makes when they just learned a dirty secret about someone.

"What?" I questioned. "Since when did listening to someone take a leak become so funny?" I pushed by them and went to wash my hands. But they were still looming over me. I sighed. "Don't you guys have anything better to do than stalk me?" I said.

"Well, gee, don't you have anything better to do than do it with my brother?" Valorie fired back.

I froze. "What did you say?" I questioned.

"Yeah, it wasn't too pleasant listening to you two going at it," Valorie said. "The least you could've done is kept the noise down."

I was shocked. "I did no such thing!" I exclaimed.

"Like we'd ever believe a slutty whore like you," Iesha said.

"Yeah, and by the time this gets out to the public, no one will," Monica added.

"You won't have any friends at all," Amber said.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" a deep female voice ordered. It was Tsukiko. "You don't have any right to bully her like that."

"Like I'm gonna take orders from a god damn lesbo," Valorie said getting up in her face. "Now scram, you homo!"

Tsukiko's fists clenched and she slapped Valorie across the face. All her friends gasped. "You…bitch!" Valorie exclaimed.

She was just about to return the favor, but Tsukiko caught her arm just before it touched her cheek.

"I suggest you and your "friends" leave before things get out of hand," she said.

Valorie yanked her hand away and signaled to her friends to follow. I breathed a sigh of relief when they left.

Tsukiko came up to me. "Hey…are you alright?" she asked kindly.

"Yeah…I'm fine," I replied. "It's just Valorie…it's nothing I'm not used to."

"Don't worry," she said. "She won't tell anyone that bullshit about you and Michael…she's too much of a coward."

"That she is," I agreed. I hugged her. "I'm so lucky to have friends like you," I said.

"Well, like we said before, we'll always be here for you," she said. I broke the hug and headed back to class.

After school, I went back to my apartment and decided to take a nap. And I certainly needed it…


	27. VDay Drama

**FF to Valentine's Day**

(Alea's POV)

Valentine's Day. I never thought I'd be more excited to hear that name, because now I actually had someone that I wasn't afraid to ask, "Would you be my valentine?" As I applied my make-up, Destria appeared next to me.

"So…what is Valentine's Day?" she asked.

I was half-surprised that she didn't know, but then again being behind a mirror for 5000 years didn't allow for much information to get through.

"Well…it's a holiday that celebrates love and romance," I explained. She seemed interested. "On this day, people profess their love to someone and often do stuff like give them flowers, candy, and jewelry or take them on extremely romantic dates," I continued.

"Really?" she said. "Sounds nice…but I'm sure there are some negatives."

"Well, there are a few," I said. "Like receiving affection from someone you don't like…or getting rejected from someone you do like…of course, I should be worrying about the first one."

"Maybe not," Destria said, smirking a little.

"Destria, please," I said. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Oh, I won't," she assured. "I'll do something smart."

I didn't want to know what she was planning. But what could I expect from a fallen angel. As I finished putting on my red lip stain, I heard a knock at the door. I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs to meet Bakura. When I opened the door, I was greeted with a sweet, passionate kiss. It lasted for at least a minute and a half.

"Wow…you haven't kissed me like that since midnight New Year's Eve," I said.

He simply chuckled and took me by the hand, holding it as we walked to the elevator and out into the garage. As we got on his motorcycle, I remembered that I had a card to give to him.

"Oh, Bakura, before I forget," I said as I reached into my backpack. "Happy Valentine's Day." I took out a heart shaped card I had made with rose pattern lace. He took it and smiled, kissing me on the forehead.

"Thanks," he said.

As we sped towards school, I could see all the stores with red, pink and white balloons outside them, flower shops with roses and forget-me-nots on sale, and candy stores with heart-shaped boxes of chocolate in all sizes. I had never seen a city that had more holiday spirit. When we arrived at school, I noticed a lot of couples holding hands.

I then almost immediately spotted Valorie and Seto making out next to the school doors. How disgusting. Then again, she was a bitch and he was an asshole…sounds like a perfect couple to me.

As we walked down the hall to our lockers, I noticed that Michael was nowhere to be seen. Maybe karma caught to him and he got a bad cold on the one day he could seriously harass me. I felt pretty relaxed. Maybe Destria didn't have to carry out whatever dastardly plot she had against him.

Of course, these feelings disappeared when I opened my locker. A small bouquet of roses was lying on top of my stack of books. At first, I thought it was Joey or Tristan trying to be funny. But when I read the card, my blood went cold, then boiled. The card read "Happy V-Day, Angelface. You're mine today." I broke the stems of the roses in half and tore the petals apart, throwing them into a nearby trashcan.

"Why does he have to torment me like this!" I half-exclaimed in anger. Bakura lightly placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Just try to ignore him today," he said. "The more you let him get to you, the more he's going to torture you…try to show him you're not afraid of him." I just nodded. I didn't know if I could. But…if I couldn't, Destria could do something.

"Um…hang on a minute, Bakura," I said. "I have to go to the restroom real quick…I'll see you in first period."

"Okay," was all he said.

I went into the girls' bathroom where, luckily, no one was around. "Destria," I said. "On second thought…do whatever you want to humiliate Michael." I heard her chuckle darkly.

"Whatever you say, Alea," she said. A little reputation damage never hurt.

As I rejoined Bakura in Mrs. Proff's class, Stefani came up and gave me a V-Day card with Rocky Horror lips printed on it along with a square of Godiva chocolate taped to it. "Ooooh! I love caramel filled chocolate!" I said as I took a bite of it. "And Rocky Horror Picture Show!"

"Who doesn't?" Stefani said.

"…Valorie and her friends," I replied.

"Besides them!" Stefani said.

"…Seto Kaiba," Bakura said, making sure his comment was out of Seto's earshot.

"Never mind!" Stefani said in defeat.

The morning went about normally, with the exception of all the cards and candy I was getting from Stefani's friends (this must've been tradition for them). Then, lunchtime came. Time to see what Destria had up her sleeve. I knew she wouldn't do anything to bad, but it would be enough to at least get people laughing at him.

I was so engulfed in my thoughts that I was completely caught off guard when Michael came up behind me and grabbed my ass. I flung my purse at him, hitting him in the face. "Keep your filthy hands off me, you asshole!" I exclaimed. He simply chuckled and walked away. _God! I hate him! _

"I guess he still isn't taking the break up seriously," Tea said.

"Uh…yeah," I replied. I almost forgot that none of them knew that Michael had attempted to rape me last December. And I couldn't let anything happen to Ryou. _Oh, Destria. Hurry up. _

Just then, I saw Destria leaning up against a wall next to a trashcan. She had a devious smile. This was it. As I continued walking into the lunchroom, my eyes followed Michael as he moved ever closer towards Destria without even knowing she was there. Then, Destria lightly stuck her foot out in his path. I eagerly awaited what happened next. Michael tripped over her ghostly, heeled boot and his outstretched hands meant to break his fall fell on the edge of the trashcan, tipping it over and flinging several bits of uneaten lunch onto him.

The lunchroom fell dead silent, then erupted in laughter. Michael was always known to have a perfect walk and appearance. Now he just looked like a fool.

"Good job," I quietly complimented Destria.

"My pleasure," she replied.

Michael quickly stood up and attempted to brush it off, but the damage had already been done.

"Well…serves him right," Alex said.

"It's gonna take awhile for it to go away…and I'm not just talking about the stains," I said. We all laughed and Michael left the lunchroom in huff just like his sister would. Now I knew I could spend the rest of Valentine's Day in peace with _my _Valentine: Bakura.

After school, we met up with Yugi, Joey, Ryou, Tristan, and Tea.

"Hey, guys," Yugi said. "We're going to the Pier for a Valentine's Day party. Just the seven of us. Would you two like to come?"

"Certainly," I replied. "We haven't hung out in a while."

"Great! Let's meet at 5," Tea said.

"We'll be there," I said. Bakura took me by the hand and we walked to his motorcycle.

**FF to 5:00**

(Alea's POV)

When we met up with our group, we immediately began walking down the boardwalk to find a place to eat at. We all became super hungry when we finally came across an open-air Mediterranean restaurant that overlooked the harbor.

"Mmm…I could so go for a plate of shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta," I said.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Joey said. "Let's get a table."

After the waiter had delivered our meals, Tea took out her camera. "Why so soon?" I asked. She had a devious look on her face.

"I want to get a picture of you two doing that thing from Lady and the Tramp," she said. Bakura and I both blushed.

"Don't you think that's a little…cliché?" I said.

"C'mon," she said. "Valentine's Day only comes once a year." _Oh, what the heck. _Bakura and I both took an end of a piece of pasta and held them in our mouths. Tea took a quick picture, but didn't put her camera away.

"What?" Bakura questioned.

"Now I want to take a video," she said.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me, woman," Bakura said.

"Proceed," Tea urged. We both rolled our eyes and continued to remake the scene from Lady and the Tramp until our lips touched and we both bit off the piece of the pasta.

"There. Satisfied?" Bakura questioned.

"Oh, I'm more than satisfied," Tea replied.

After dinner, we walked down the boardwalk and played all sorts of games and watched several street performers. At one point, Bakura won a Luna cat doll for me. Pretty soon, nature started calling me. "Hang on guys, I'll be right back," I said. "I need to go to the restroom."

"Alright, we'll wait here," Yugi said.

After searching for several minutes I found a porta-potty next to an alleyway. It wasn't really my first choice of a restroom, but when you really need to go, you'll do anything to keep from wetting yourself. Also, it was good because it was in a place far away from the crowds, so if anything else came up, it wouldn't be embarrassing. Of course…I would soon regret thinking that.

As soon as I got out of the porta-potty, I saw a figure standing between me and the Pier. It was a little dark and I couldn't see who it was very clearly. It wasn't Bakura, Yugi, or Tristan, as he had neither of their unusual hairstyles. "Joey?" I asked.

"Not even close," the person replied. _Oh shit, not again! _

"Michael, let's not start this again," I said. "Just leave me alone." It was useless to even try to reason with him, of course.

"But how can I pass up such a perfect opportunity?" he said. _Now would be a great time to start running! _I quickly took off into the alleyway.

"You honestly think you can escape me again?" I heard him question.

I turned a corner and suddenly realized that I had ran into a dead end. "No," I breathed. _Crap! Shit! Why is this happening again? _I could hear him coming closer and closer. _Bakura! Why didn't I ask you to come with me? _

Suddenly, I was pulled into a narrow passageway and…


	28. My Freaky Valentine

(Alea's POV)

I looked to see who it was and was quite surprised. "Bakura-" he quickly covered my mouth with his hand. It felt like ice. That was a little odd.

"Quiet," he ordered, his voice deeper and darker than his actual voice was. That was kind of creepy. "We can't let that worm, Niu, get to you, again," he said. _Woah! Back up! Did he just call him "Niu"? What the hell? _That was borderline freaky. We waited in silence for several moments until Michael finally gave up and left.

"How does she keep getting away from me?" he grumbled as he exited the alley.

As Bakura let go of me, I quickly turned around to face him. I was taken aback a little. He look…different. His hair was more wild looking, his eyes were more narrow (and were more gold than hazel), and he had an all around dark aura and look. What happened to him? "Bakura…what happened to you?" I asked.

He chuckled darkly. "Bakura…you mean that pathetic little boyfriend of yours?" he questioned.

"Stop it," I said. "This isn't funny."

"I'm not playing with you," he replied. "I'm not your Bakura."

I just looked at him in disbelief. "Who are you then?" I questioned.

He chuckled again. "I am the spirit of the Millennium Ring," he replied. "I am a thief and a stealer of souls and I have done terrible things in my quest to possess the Millennium Items." _Millennium Items…was this who Destria spoke of that morning after Christmas? _"And it just so happen that you possess one that I _really _desire," he said, taking hold of my wrist, which had the Millennium Bracelet on it.

He backed me up against the wall. I began to sweat a little. Destria's tone when she mentioned him was ominous. "I need that Bracelet," he said. "Give it to me."

"And if I don't?" I questioned. He chuckled darkly. His hand suddenly turned ghostly and he reached through my chest. I felt his icy fingers lightly grasped my heart. My entire body froze and I began to have trouble breathing.

"Oh, you will give it to me," he said. "I know how afraid you are of death."

I was about to surrender to him when the Bracelet suddenly began to glow. Destria, in her ghostly form, burst out of it and pulled the…Dark Bakura…away from me and slammed him against the opposite wall. I stumbled to the ground.

(Destria's POV)

"Keep your goddamn hands off of her," I said threateningly.

"Well, well…I see you've escaped from your imprisonment," he answered. "Did that little brat help you out?"

"Don't call her a 'brat'!" I ordered.

He simply chuckled. "You always look so beautiful when you're angry," he said.

"Shut up!" I growled. "Leave these two alone. They already have enough outside problems with Michael running around and they don't need you to complicate things more."

"Whatever," he said casually. "I won't even need to use these two until the time is right." I gave him a threatening look. "Well, I've done what I needed to do," he said. "We'll meet again soon enough." He then disappeared back into the Millennium Ring, leaving his host to stumble to the ground.

(Alea's POV)

"Bakura!" I exclaimed, catching him.

"Don't tell him what just happened," Destria said. "It's probably best if he didn't know."

Bakura opened his eyes and slowly sat up. "What…What happened?" he questioned. "One second I'm trying to find, next second I'm on the ground."

"You pulled me in here to hide from Michael, then passed out," I explained. "I think there might be a gas leak back here…we should go."

"Right," he agreed. "Everyone's probably wondering where we are."

As we walked, he laughed a little and said, "Imagine that…My brother faints over a lot of things and I end up fainting over something as little as a gas leak."

"Maybe it runs in the family," I joked. We both laughed as we met up with the others.

"There you are," Tea said. "We've been wondering where you were."

"What happened?" Joey asked.

"Do you really want me to explain?" I questioned.

"Uh…we'll take your word for it," Tristan said.

"Well, it's getting pretty late," Yugi said. "We should wrap up this party."

"Yeah," Joey said, yawning. "I'm getting pretty tired."

"You're always tired," Tea said.

"Well…see you guys tomorrow," I said before leaving with Bakura. We got on his motorcycle and sped towards home. After getting in the elevator, I noticed that Bakura hadn't pressed the button for his floor. I was about to press it for him, but he lightly pulled my hand away. "I still have a surprise to give you," he said. I simply smiled and waited until we got to my floor and entered my apartment.

"So…what's the surprise?" I asked.

"Close your eyes," he said. I did so. I felt his lips touch mine. As he kissed me, I felt him slip something small into my hand. When he pulled away, I looked at what he had given me. It was a small, polished mahogany box with a red ribbon around it. I slowly opened it. Inside was a small cylinder with blunt points on it. It was a music box.

"Wind it up," he said. I found the wind on the bottom of the box and carefully cranked it. After letting go, it began to play the music box version of "Always With Me" from _Spirited Away_. "Bakura…it's beautiful," I said. "Where did you get it?"

"I ordered it about a month ago," he said. "Alex built it."

"She certainly has a talent," I said. I hugged him tightly. "And you _are _always with me," I whispered.

"As you are with me," he whispered back. He kissed me warmly before leaving.

I fell back onto the couch. How in love I was with him. My kindred spirit. After thinking of the word "spirit", my thoughts immediately went back to tonight's events in the alley. Who was this Dark…Yami Bakura? Whoever he was, Destria sure did not like him. But…why was he after the Millennium Items? Well, I was too tired to dwell on it anymore. I went upstairs to my room, placed the music box on my vanity, and got into bed.

_What a freaky Valentine's Day…but it could've been worse. It was certainly better than any of the Valentine's Days before I moved here._

**Okay, this is the last chapter before I start going into the main plot, which is the very beginning of the entire series. So, Duelist Kingdom is going to start in about one or two chapters. Things are about to get interesting. ;)**


	29. BlueEyes White Dragon

**FF to Thursday before Spring Break**

(Alea's POV)

As we all hung out in Study Hall (as I only needed a half credit of Lifetime Sports), we watched Yugi teaching Joey how to play Duel Monsters. Joey was already starting to learn and was trying pretty hard to figure out his next move. "Aww, you look so cute when your thinking," Tristan joked. Joey shoved him away. I giggled a little bit.

"They've been at it for awhile," Tea said. "Joey's starting to get the hang of it, but Yugi is an expert." He definitely was. I wondered why I never saw him compete. He'd probably rock the competition.

Joey made his next move by playing Kagemusha of the Blue Flame. It seemed like a pretty good move, but it wasn't good enough. Yugi countered with Blackland Fire Dragon, wiping out Joey's life points. "Wow, you suck at this game Joey," Tristan said. I punched him in the arm, motioning for him to back off. Yes, Joey did suck at Duel Monsters, but he was still just a beginner.

"I think you did fine, Joey," Yugi said. "I just had better cards. Maybe we can go over to Grandpa's game shop and get you some better cards." Oh, Yugi was so sweet. I really admired how he was so willing to help others. "Maybe we can get Grandpa to show us the super rare card he owns," Yugi said.

"Oh, he has a rare card, too?" I said. After getting the rare "Amisi of Heaven" and "Destria of Hell" cards plus their "Change of Soul" activation card (don't bother Googling, they don't exist. Sorry), I thought I had the super rare card. Oh well, it would be interesting to see what rare card Grandpa Moto had.

**FF to that afternoon**

After finding our way to the game shop (we had only been there once and kind of forgot where it was), Bakura and I went inside, where we were just in time to see Grandpa Moto take out the super rare card. "Sorry we're late," I apologized. "We got lost."

"It's perfectly fine," Grandpa Moto said. "As I was saying…this is the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon." It was pretty friggin' cool. I had never even heard of a white dragon, let alone one with blue eyes. Then again, I never really had an affinity for dragons. But, the card was pretty cool, nonetheless.

Tristan took the card and looked at it. "It doesn't look all that special to me," he said. Grandpa Moto took t back.

"This card is priceless!" he said. "There are only four of them in the whole world!"

"Well, I'm ready to trade," Joey said.

"Not for this card," Grandpa Moto said.

"I didn't mean that card," Joey reassured. "Show me some other cool cards to get me started."

"Yeah, he's gonna need all the good cards he can get if he wants to beat Yugi's awesome deck," I said. Joey shot me an annoyed look. "Hey, at least I'm not judging your skill," I said.

Just then, the door opened revealing a person we all probably least expected to show up here. "Kaiba," Bakura and I said simultaneously.

"Can I help you?" Grandpa Moto asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me if you can't," Seto replied.

"Don't you have a big fancy company to run instead of bugging us?" I questioned. He simply ignored me.

"I came to see…the card," he said.

"Didn't know he was into Duel Monsters," Joey said. "Maybe I could duel you sometime."

"Please…I'm the number one-ranked duelist in the country, and the favorite to win the Duel Monsters Championship," Seto said disdainfully. "You wouldn't last two minutes in a duel against me."

"Why, you no good piece of-" Joey said before being held back by Yugi.

"Well, shit, if you didn't want to duel you didn't have to be a total dick about it," I said.

"Hmph…well, a little small town girl like you couldn't possibly understand the fierce world of Duel Monsters," he said.

"Small town? I'll show you small town," I said. "Joey, back me up." But Bakura held me back before I could do anything.

"Hey, no fighting in the shop," Grandpa Moto said.

"He was asking for it," Joey grumbled. Seto just smiled smugly.

"I wondered if this shop has any worthwhile cards or not," he said. His eyes quickly landed on the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. He seemed to get a little sweaty and frantically approached the counter. Of course, Grandpa Moto quickly shut the case the card was in.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Grandpa Moto asked. Seto slammed his briefcase onto the counter, revealing a whole bunch of Duel Monsters cards.

"Whoa," we all said. I didn't like him, but that was a pretty impressive supply of Duel Monsters cards.

"I'll trade them all for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon," he said. Was he serious? Man, was he obsessed with that card.

"No thanks," Grandpa Moto said.

"Name your price," Kaiba insisted.

"Sorry, but this card means more to me than anything you can offer," Grandpa Moto refused. "Not because of its power, but because it was a gift from a dear friend. Parting with it is out of the question."

_Good for you, Grandpa Moto. _What a true friend he must be.

"Grandpa would feel the same even if it was a common card," Yugi said. "It has bonded with his heart."

_I guess sweetness runs in the family. _

Seto slammed his briefcase shut and stalked out. As he exited the door, I heard him mutter, "Senile old fool." _Hmph. Who's the real fool here? _

"Well, it was nice to hang out with you guys, but I actually have to go, too," I said. "I want to get my homework done so I have enough time to watch the newest episode of CSI: Las Vegas."

"Okay, well, let's meet up here tomorrow," Yugi suggested.

"Okay," I said.

"Oh…I can't come over tomorrow," Bakura said. "I have to take Ryou to a doctor's appointment…he wouldn't last a minute if I wasn't there."

_Aw, poor Ryou._

"Well, see you all tomorrow," I said before leaving with Bakura.

**FF to next day afternoon**

(Alea's POV)

"Well, I might be awhile until Ryou's appointment is done. Will you be alright here?" Bakura asked.

"I will," I replied. "And if anything comes up I'll just call you."

"Alright. I'll see you later," he said, kissing me and then speeding away.

I then noticed everyone standing outside the store. They looked worried. "Hey, what's going on?" I asked.

"The doors locked and the shop is unattended," Tea informed me.

"Where's Yugi?" I asked. "Is he still inside?"

"Yeah, but he's not answering," Joey said.

Suddenly, Yugi rushed out of the store. "Yugi, what's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"Kaiba's got Grandpa!" he said. "We need to hurry!" We were all shocked, but quickly ran to Kaiba Corp.

When we got there and entered the building, Grandpa Moto was lying on the floor, barely conscious. We all rushed to him. "I failed," he said weakly. "I wanted to teach Kaiba a lesson about the heart of the cards, but I lost."

_Oh, poor Grandpa Moto! How could Kaiba do this to him? _

"You're late," a familiar, less than appealing voice said.

"You bastard!" Joey shouted. "What did you do to Yugi's grandpa?"

"We had a duel, that's all," Seto explained. "We put up our most valuable cards as prizes, but I guess the Virtual Simulation system I invented was too much for the old man."

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Tea said. "Yeah," I agreed.

Suddenly, Seto took out Grandpa Moto's Blue-Eyes White Dragon card and ripped it in half. We were all beyond shocked. "No," Yugi breathed. "That was Grandpa's most treasured card."

"It's a rare and powerful card," Seto agreed. "and now it will never be used against me."

As Grandpa Moto tried tp reach for his torn-up card, Yugi angrily shouted at Seto, "How could you do such a thing?"

"Yeah! You went too far this time!" I joined in. "First you hurt Yugi's grandpa and then you destroy his most precious possession? What in hell is wrong with you!"

Just then, Grandpa Moto weakly held out his deck to Yugi. "I put my soul into these cards and taught you everything you know," he said. "Take them and teach Kaiba respect for the heart of the cards."

_Oh, if Yugi could teach an asshole like Kaiba something like that, anything is possible. _

"But…I can't leave you," Yugi protested.

"Hmph, sounds like an excuse," Kaiba said. "The others can take care of your grandfather while you and I duel…unless you're afraid." Oh, how I wanted to punch his face in.

"Take him on!" Joey said. "We can take care of your grandpa. Teach that rich spoiled brat what a real duel's about!"

"Yeah, Yugi, you're the best duelist we've ever seen," I chimed in.

Finally, Yugi took his grandpa's deck and said, "Let's duel!"

I walked away to call Bakura and let him know what was going on. "Hello?" he said.

"Hey, listen, something bad has just happened," I said. "That asshole, Kaiba, has seriously hurt Grandpa Moto."

"What? Why?" he asked.

"It was over that Blue-Eyes card Grandpa Moto showed us yesterday, which he ended up tearing in half!" I answered.

"That bastard," I heard him say. "I'll let the hospital know so they can get a room ready for him."

"Alright, I'll be heading over there with Tea and Tristan," I said before hanging up. When I got back, I noticed that Tea, Tristan, Joey, and Yugi had strange black marks on their hands. I decided to ignore it and went to pick up the two pieces of the Blue-Eyes card to see if I could try to fix it for Grandpa Moto.

As I headed to the ambulance with Tea and Tristan, I turned back and paused suddenly. When I saw Yugi…he didn't quite look like Yugi. He looked taller, his hair was slightly different, and his eyes were no longer cute and innocent, but serious looking. It instantly reminded me of Valentine's Day when the same thing happened to Bakura. Perhaps…Of course! It was because Yugi had a Millennium Item. Perhaps this happened to all that wielded one. The only question was, is he a good or evil spirit. Something I would have to ask Destria.

"C'mon, Alea!" Tristan called. I hurried back to the ambulance.

So much weird stuff was happening. But…would they just keep getting weirder?


	30. Duelist Kingdom Begins!

**FF to Sunday**

(Alea's POV)

"So, Yugi," I started as I, him, Joey, and Bakura walked down a trail in Central Park. "What happened after we left Friday?"

"Man, you guys should've seen it!" Joey said. "Yugi kicked that son of a bitch's ass real good! I mean, he pulled out a super badass card that I didn't even know his grandpa had in his deck! What was it called, again, Yugi? Exodia? But he was able to totally destroy Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Well, I didn't know much about Duel Monsters, but (from what I heard about a Virtual Simulation system) it must've been pretty awesome to watch.

"Oh, that reminds me," I said. "Yugi…I tried my best to fix it, but all I could do was put clear tape on it." I took out Grandpa Moto's Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, which I had taped back together, and handed it to Yugi.

"Thanks…I'll make sure to give it to him," he said, taking the card.

As we continued walking, Valorie White suddenly stepped out in front of us. "Not so fast," she said.

"Geez…what could you possibly want now, Valorie?" I questioned.

"To get back at this little twerp for what he did to my boyfriend," she explained, referring to Yugi. "Because of you, he isn't talking to me, he isn't answering any of my calls, and he doesn't even want to see me! Do you understand what you've done to me?"

"Hey, if you're boyfriend hadn't been such a complete asshole, Yugi wouldn't have had to do what he did," Joey said.

"If anything, Seto got what he deserved," Bakura agreed.

"Can it, you two!" Valorie said. "I don't need the opinions of a retarded Brooklyn boy and a trans-looking Brit!"

"Hey! No one calls my boyfriend a tranny in front of me," I said, getting in her face. She looked like she was going to start up an argument with me, but didn't.

"I don't need to waste my time with you," she said. "I came here for one thing and one thing only." She snatched the repaired Blue-Eyes White Dragon card out of Yugi's hand and threw it on the ground, proceeding to stomp on it. We were all shocked. My fixing it was all for nothing. I should've waited until we were back at the game shop.

She finished by twisted the heel of her boot on it. Without saying anything else, she walked away, obviously satisfied with herself. I bent down and picked up the now crumpled card. All I could do was dust it off. Yugi had a look of defeat on his face. "I'm so sorry, Yugi," I said, hugging him.

"It's okay," he said. We decided to walk back to the game shop, just in case any other undesirable people showed up.

"By the way, Joey," I started, wanting to change the subject. "I heard Grandpa Moto has started teaching you how to play Duel Monsters. How is it going so far?"

"It's pretty grueling," he replied. "I didn't know training to be a duelist would be so hard."

"But you're getting really good at it, though," Yugi encouraged.

"And it's a good thing these session don't cut into band practice, or else Tsukiko would have a fit," Bakura joked. Tsukiko only says she would get pissed if either of them didn't show up to practice so they would. She never really did get mad…or at least, I don't think she did (they never showed up late, so no one really knows).

"Anyway, hopefully I'll be good enough one day to win a big tournament," Joey said.

"Oh, you and your big dreams, Joey," I said.

We headed back to the game shop, where Grandpa Moto was restocking shelves. "You're late, Joey," he said.

"What? But I thought I didn't have any lessons today!" Joey said, pretty worried.

"I'm just kidding," Grandpa Moto said. Joey laughed nervously.

"Oh…um…Mr. Moto," I said. "Um…I…I tried to fix it, but…I kinda did…but Valorie stopped us in the park today and…well…pretty much ruined it." I handed him the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. "I'm really sorry," I said.

"It's fine," he sighed, lightly placing the card back in its case.

"Hey, do you guys want to stay and watch the Regional Duel Monsters Championship with us?" Yugi asked.

"Not really," I said. "I've never been one for sports…even if it's card games."

"Same here," Bakura agreed.

"Well, I guess we'll see you guys tomorrow," Yugi said.

"Okay…see you guys later," I said before leaving with Bakura.

**FF to 7:00 p.m.**

(Alea's POV)

"Destria…who was that person I saw Friday before I left for the hospital?" I asked.

"Huh?" she questioned.

"That…other Yugi," I said.

"Oh…him," she said. "Yes…I know who he is…but, is it alright if I don't tell you everything I know about him?"

"Is there a reason why?" I asked.

"How about it goes against a lot of things if I were to tell a human about things that have to unfold on their own," she said.

"…Okay," I said.

"That person you saw…is the Nameless Pharaoh," she explained.

"The who?" I questioned.

"Get on your laptop," she said. "This information is sure to have reached the Internet by now." I quickly turned on my laptop and typed in Nameless Pharaoh.

"Well, what do you know, it is on here," I said.

"Click on 'Image'," Destria instructed. I did as she said. The first picture that came up was a picture of a stone with a bunch of Egyptian carvings on it. "That's the one," Destria said. "Enlarge it." I clicked on a higher resolution, and was quite surprised at what I saw. The figure on the right side of the stone looked just like Yugi…or at least the guy who looked like Yugi.

"So that's who you meant," I said.

"I wonder who found this, though?" Destria said. "I knew it would be on the Internet, but I'm just curious…getting an actual photo of this must've been hard. That tomb has been hidden for thousands of years."

I went back to the website where the photo came from. "It says it was taken by Maximillion Pegasus," I said. "Isn't that the guy who created Duel Monsters?"

"I wouldn't know," Destria said.

Just then, my cell phone rang. It was Bakura. "Hello?" I said.

"I just got a call from Yugi," he said. "His grandpa is in the hospital again."

"Please tell me it wasn't Valorie or any of Kaiba's goons," I said.

"Not even related," he said. "I don't know why, but I thought I heard someone in the background say something about a guy named Pegasus stealing his soul. But anyway, he said that he's participating in Duelist Kingdom and…well, I'm not sure why, but I feel like we should go with him. Tea and Tristan said that they were going to try and go, too. What do say?"

I looked at Destria. She nodded. "Alright," I said. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow night at six," he said. "I'll be there," I replied.

Well, I guess things _were _just going to get weirder. This Pegasus guy must be one bad guy if he stole Grandpa Moto's soul. But I couldn't dwell on it right now. I had to get ready for tomorrow night.


	31. Duelist Kingdom Begins! part 2

**Next Night 6:00 p.m.**

(Alea's POV)

As we neared the Domino Pier, the three of us made absolutely sure that we didn't look like we were doing anything suspicious. "Geez, these guards Pegasus has running around here are pretty scary," Ryou said.

"Yeah, they have to be if they don't want anybody sneaking on board," I said.

"Effective, but not effective enough to keep us from getting on that boat," Bakura said.

Once we walked all the way past the guards, we hid behind a stack of crates. "Well, now we have to find a way to get on board," I said.

"Hey, look! There's Yugi, Joey, and Tsukiko," Ryou said.

"I didn't even know Tsukiko played Duel Monsters," I said.

As Ryou and I watched them board the ship, I heard a sound coming from behind us. I turned around to find Bakura opening one of the crates. "What are you doing?" I questioned.

"Getting us on the boat," he replied. Well, I couldn't think of any better ideas, so this would have to do. We got in one by one, Bakura first, then Ryou, then me. We closed the lid and waited in silence to be lifted onto the boat.

Suddenly, we were jerked off the ground along with the other crates. The crate shifted sharply to a slant, squishing us all to the side.

"Well, this is comfortable," Bakura said sarcastically.

Then, we were unloaded onto the boat. However, our crate had been moved on top of the other crates, causing it to topple down and crash down on the deck of the boat. Now we were painfully twisted around each other. "Ow! Someone has their knee in my side," I cried.

"Ryou! Get your foot out of my face," Bakura ordered.

"I would if someone's leg wasn't crushing mine," Ryou whined.

After a few moments, we finally untangled ourselves and Bakura busted open the lid of the crate, which was now on the side. We all quickly crawled out. "Air! Fresh, sweet, open air!" I exclaimed.

"Honestly, I don't know how Solid Snake does it," Bakura said as he brushed several wood chips off his black jacket.

Suddenly, we heard footsteps coming towards us. "Hide!" Bakura said.

We quickly scrambled for a place to hide. A couple guards were making their rounds. Once they were well away, we regrouped. "Well, I guess we have to just stay hidden until the ship docks at Duelist Kingdom," I said.

"Yeah…I just hope we _can _stay hidden," Bakura said.

I walked over to the side railing of the ship and looked out over the harbor as the ship departed and we headed out towards the open ocean. Bakura came up next to me. "You know, if we weren't trying not to get caught by the guards, this would be pretty romantic," I said, resting my head on Bakura's shoulder.

"It still can be," he said.

"Well…not in front of Ryou," I whispered.

"Oh…right," he replied.

"It's still a good thought though," I said.

For the next few hours, it seemed almost like a routine: hide when footsteps come, come out when they're gone, repeat. "Too bad we can't go to see Yugi, Joey, or Tsukiko," I said.

"I'm getting hungry," Ryou said. Luckily, I knew this would happen and had packed a few snacks for the trip. I reached into my backpack and handed him a creampuff. I soon became very tired and laid my head down on Bakura's shoulder, falling asleep.

**FF to the next morning**

I awakened to the sound of a dropping anchor and the bright light of day. I got up and looked out over the ships railing. The island was HUGE. It was covered in a vast forest and in the center was a castle. Must've belonged to Pegasus.

"Come on," Bakura said, taking me by the arm. We quickly went back to the crate that got us onto the ship and crawled back inside. Hopefully this time would be less painful than the last. We were once again lifted up with the rest of the crates and this time our crate was on the bottom, so there was less room to shift, and when we were placed down on the ground, there were no crates on top of ours. I peeked through a hole in the wood. "We're clear," I said.

We lifted the top off the crate and quickly hid behind the trees of the forest. "Look! There they are," Ryou said, pointing out Yugi, Joey, and Tsukiko.

"Wait a minute…look who's with them," I said, noticing two extra people. It was Tristan and Tea!

"We could've just walked off the ship," Bakura said, a little annoyed.

"Well, we're here, and that's the point," I said. "Let's walk around and check out some of the duels."

"Oh, yes! That should be fun," Ryou said enthusiastically.

We then headed off into the woods and walked through it until we noticed all the competing duelists walking up a flight of stairs that led up to the castle. Pretty soon, I spotted the group. "There they are again," I said. "I hope we'll be able to rejoin them at some point during this tournament."

After walking around for a little while longer, we came upon one of the dueling arenas that I overheard were scattered all over the island. We stayed in the forest so that no one would suspect us of anything.

When I was close enough to get a better look at the players, I noticed that one of them was a pale skinned Japanese-looking girl with long black hair with her bangs cut in an Emo-style cut and red eyes. The person she was dueling was a short boy who…quite frankly, looked absolutely creepy, almost like a zombie. He had crazy grey-blue hair and pale skin.

Accompanying him were three other men: one who was muscular with blonde hair, sunglasses, and an American flag bandana; one big guy who looked as creepy as the smaller boy with black hair; and one thin guy with red hair and thin glasses.

As I watched the duel, I noticed that the two of their decks seemed to be extremely similar, both containing either zombie or death themed cards. However, the girl's deck seemed a little more divine than his (she had less monsters that looked like rotting corpses). Finally, she wiped him out with a card called "Eternal Rest", which wiped out all of his Zombies.

She then went to collect her Star Chips that she had won. However, she was suddenly attacked by two of the men, who stole her Star Chips. "Get back here, you bastards!" she shouted after them.

Suddenly, two guards came out from the trees and grabbed her. "Looks like we got another loser for the day," one said. "Time to get on the loser's boat home."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she exclaimed. "Those guys robbed me!"

"Too bad, you're coming with us," they said.

I wanted to go out and defend her, but then I would be caught and sent home, too. Poor girl.

Well, we had to keep moving if we wanted to find Yugi and the others.


	32. Yami Bakura Revealed, Shadow Game pt 1

**FF to Sunset**

(Alea's POV)

We had been walking around all day and had probably reached every corner of the island in our quest to see some awesome duels. There were a lot of tournament-level duelists here and at almost every duelist arena there were interesting duels to be watched. I had overheard that two of the winners of the Regional Duel Monsters Championships, Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood, had already been kicked out of the tournament. My two guesses for why this could have been possible (as it seemed like they were impossible to beat) were that someone cheated and stolen their Star Chips, like that poor girl from the first duel, or Yugi, Joey, or Tsukiko had defeated them.

"Well…night is coming. We should try to find the other guys now," I said.

"Yeah…besides it's starting to get really creepy out here," Ryou said.

"You're not going to faint over it, are you?" Bakura asked.

"Of course not!" Ryou replied, blushing.

We continued through the forest. Bakura held me close to him so that we wouldn't get separated. When his hand touched mine, it was ice cold again. That fear began to form again. What if he came out again? What would happen if he came out around Yugi? Would he try to take the Millennium Puzzle? I tried to ease my worry by thinking of a rational reason why his hand was so cold. It seemed pretty cold out here. Maybe it was a result of that. Yes, that's why. However, I still remained wary.

Pretty soon, we noticed a faint light in the distance. We stopped to make sure it wasn't a guard, but it was stationary and had an orange hue to it. It must've been a campfire.

"Come on," I said.

We walked closer to it and I began to hear voices. Familiar voices. When I peeked through several bushes, I saw our friends gathered around the camp fire. We had obviously made our presence known, as Tea seemed to hear us and let out a small shout of surprise.

"Who's there?" Joey questioned.

Well, we couldn't hide ourselves any longer. I grabbed Bakura and Ryou by their collars and pulled them out with me.

"Surprise, surprise!" I said cheerfully.

"Alea? Bakura? Ryou?" Joey said in surprise.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tristan asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Bakura replied, reminding him that he wasn't supposed to be here either.

"We've been looking for you guys all day," I said.

"Well, don't just stand there," Tsukiko said. "Sit down." We joined the group around the fire.

We mostly discussed the day's events. Apparently it was Yugi and who defeated Weevil and Rex, respectively. Tsukiko also had her share of duels, as she defeated a woman named Mai Valentine. Tsukiko described her as blonde and beautiful, but really deceptive and not too friendly. Hmm…who does that remind me of, minus the blonde hair (sorry, Mai fans, I had to replace Mai with Tsukiko, so she will only be mentioned). Anyway, it also seemed as though Seto Kaiba had a younger brother named Mokuba who seemed similar to him at first, but turned out to be really sweet.

"Who would've thought," I said. "Kaiba had a sweet younger brother…now that I have to see."

"Well, you probably won't any time soon," Yugi said. "He's been kidnapped by Pegasus."

"What a scumbag," I said. "First Grandpa Moto, now Mokuba Kaiba…what is he trying to do?"

For a moment, I felt a little sorry for Seto Kaiba. It must've felt terrible to have his younger brother kidnapped. It certainly didn't change my opinion of him, but still.

Tsukiko stood up.

"What are you doing?" Joey asked.

"I'm gonna take a walk," she replied. "Don't worry, I'll be back in a little bit." With that, she walked off.

"Hey, what do you guys want to do while she's gone?" Tristan asked.

Joey pulled out his deck. "You know, whenever I'm dueling I always feel like I'm on the field battling my enemies," he said.

"So?" Tristan asked.

"So, why don't we compare ourselves to our favorite Duel Monsters cards," Joey said.

"Sounds kinda dumb," Tristan said.

"Well, what ideas do you have, hair for brains?" Tea asked. Tristan blushed, embarrassed, as he had no other ideas.

"I think it sounds fun," Ryou said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "So, Joey…which one would you be?"

"It's pretty obvious…the Flame Swordsman!" he replied, holding up his card then standing up and pretending to slash a sword. "The Flame Swordsman kick's everybody's ass!" he said. _Typical boy. _

"Well, I would be the Cyber Commander," Tristan said.

"Pretty high-tech for you, Tristan," I said. He just rolled his eyes.

"You guys are ridiculous," Tea laughed.

"I think everyone has a card they can identify with," Yugi said. "Come on, Tea. Choose one for yourself."

She shuffled through her deck and held up a card. "I would be the Magician of Faith," she said.

"You gotta be kidding," Tristan said.

"It's more like the Magician of Freaks," Joey said.

I gave them both hard shoulder punches. "I think it's cool," I said.

"Which card would you identify with, Yugi?" Bakura asked.

Yugi instantly pulled out the Dark Magician card.

"That makes total sense," I said. "You always play that card whenever you duel…it's like your signature."

Yugi blushed a little. "Yeah…I guess it is," he said. "What about you guys?"

I reached into my backpack and pulled out my deck. I pulled off the top card and revealed it to the group. "Amisi of Heaven," I said.

"Well, that's obvious," Joey said. "It looks just like you."

Bakura and Ryou were the last ones to go. They each pulled out their respective cards. "Doma, the Angel of Silence and Change of Heart," Bakura said.

"Their…kinda weird looking," Joey said.

"Well, if you want to see how they work, we can duel right now," Bakura said. The group seemed confused. "Not for Star Chips," he reassured them. "Just for fun."

"Sounds like a good idea," Yugi said.

"Why don't you all put your cards in Yugi's deck, so it'll be like all of you are playing," Bakura said.

"I'll add my card to your deck, brother," Ryou said. _Aww…brotherly love. _

"With this all-star team deck, I may be tough to beat," Yugi said.

"Well, I might surprise you," Bakura replied.

We set up the dueling mats on a tree stump and got ready to play.

"Bakura…do you and Ryou mind playing alone?" I asked out of consideration that he might want me by his side.

"Oh, I'll be just fine," he replied.

"Don't worry, we'll go easy on you," Joey joked. I nudged him with my elbow.

"By the way, there's something I'd like to share with you all, and especially with Yugi and Alea," he said. Suddenly, the Millennium Ring began to form on his chest. My fears from before were now confirmed.

"No," I breathed.

"Yes," Yami Bakura replied. "Now the power of the Millennium Ring will take all of you to the Shadow Realm."

Suddenly, the forest began to fade away into dark shadows. "Destria…what's going on?" I questioned. But before my question could be answered, I felt a jolt of energy go through me and it felt as if I was no longer attached to the Earth, like I was in the dreams before Destria was released.

"What…is this?" Everything turned black.

_What has he done to us…._


	33. Sacrifices, Shadow Game pt 2

(Alea's POV)

My eyes blinked open. What on earth happened? I looked around. What in the world? I was on a giant Duel Monsters playing mat. I then looked at myself. I was wearing a short sea foam green and emerald green dress with a white vest, green bow, white stockings, silver shoulder, arm, waist, and leg armor, a silver tiara with white feathers, white wings, and I was holding a pure white sword. I looked exactly like the "Amisi of Heaven" card. This was all too weird.

"Alea!" a familiar voice said.

I quickly turned to see Yugi and Joey, who were, strangely enough, dressed just like the Dark Magician and the Flame Swordsman.

"Yugi…Joey…What's going on?" I asked. "And where's…WAHHHHHHHH!"

On the other side of the playing field was Yami Bakura…only he was ten times bigger than the rest of us. I fell down from my surprise.

"W-WHAT IS GOING ON!" I exclaimed.

"Alea," another, unfamiliar voice said from behind. I turned and suddenly saw that "other Yugi" from before.

"This just gets better and better, doesn't it," I said quietly and with a bit of sarcasm.

"Bakura has turned you into 'Amisi of Heaven'," the other…Yami Yugi explained. "And if we want to restore all of you to normal, I have to win this duel. But you have to help me and make sure you don't get yourself sent to the Graveyard…or else your soul might get trapped in the Shadow Realm forever."

A chill went through my body. This was not good at all. "I'll…I'll try my best," I said. "But…where's Tristan and Tea?"

"I don't know about Tea…but Tristan has already been sent to the Graveyard," Yami said remorsefully.

"What?" I said. "That can't be…"

Yami Bakura chuckled. "It is," he said. "And soon, you'll be next, my dear."

My heart began to beat quickly and I began to sweat a little.

"Don't let him scare ya, Lea," Joey said. "We're not gonna let this bastard hurt you."

"Thanks…but I just hope nothing bad has happened to the real Bakura," I said.

Now the game continued.

"I play the magic card 'Monster Reborn'," Yami said. "to bring Tristan back from the Graveyard."

Suddenly, a bright light formed on the field and after it faded away, it revealed Tristan, as the Cyber Commander.

"You guys are here, too?" he said in surprise. "Are you dreaming this, too?"

"It's not a dream, it's just me going insane," Joey answered. Oh, if they only knew what I knew.

"Well, all I know is that one second I was up there and now I'm down here," Yugi said.

"Well, if you're down here, then who's that?" Joey asked.

"I don't know," Yugi replied.

"Don't you?" Yami asked.

"Well…I have noticed that sometimes when I duel, it feels as though someone is guiding me," Yugi admitted. "And sometimes it's as if I can hear a strong voice calling out to me from the Millennium Puzzle."

Joey and Tristan were surprised, but I wasn't. If Destria could appear to me from the Millennium Bracelet and Yami Bakura to Bakura from the Millennium Ring, then Yami Yugi could do it, too. It must have been one of the natures of a Millennium Item.

"But I'm sure that even though I'm not sure what it's about, I'm certain that we can trust him, whoever he is," Yugi said.

"Right," I agreed.

"Well, maybe now we should try to find Tea," Tristan said.

"She must still be in the deck," Yugi deduced.

"We should try and win this game before her card gets played," Joey said.

"Right," we agreed.

Joey was about to attack, but Yugi stopped him.

"Joey, Alea was just recently summoned, therefore she has to move," Yugi reminded him.

I became very nervous. What was I even supposed to do? I guess…just take my sword and slash the face down monster. The white sword I was holding began to glow. I guess that was a "yes".

"Here goes nothing," I breathed.

I ran towards the card and brought my sword down on it, slashing it in half. Suddenly, a jar with a grotesque one-eyed face appeared, then disappeared.

"Not another morphing jar!" Joey exclaimed.

"W-What's a Morphing Jar?" I questioned.

"Every time one is destroyed, each player has to send all the cards in their hand to the Graveyard," Yugi explained.

Embarrassment rose up in me. "I'm so sorry, Yami," I apologized.

"It's okay," Joey said.

"I did the same thing." That made me feel a little better.

Yami and Yami Bakura both drew new cards.

Yami Bakura chuckled. "I wonder if Tea's immortal soul is trapped in her card," he taunted. "Maybe you should play it and find out."

"Maybe you should shut your mouth, you arrogant bastard!" I shouted, tired of him tormenting Yami.

He simply chuckled. "Let's see if you can keep that attitude of yours once I send your soul to the Shadow Realm," he said.

I tried not to show any fear, as I didn't want to give him any satisfaction. He proceeded to set another monster face-down.

"You don't know what this card is, so you might be putting Tea in danger," he said darkly. "Now I activate my trap card 'Just Desserts', which will inflict 300 points of damage to your life points for each monster you have on the field. And since you have four, that means you lose 1200, leaving you with only 800." (Sorry, I had to alter it due to the input of an extra character).

Yami grabbed his chest in pain.

"You'll feel like every point was ripped from your beating heart," Yami Bakura said.

"Are you okay?" I asked Yami.

"Yes," he replied. "But one more attack like that and it's all over."

He then played a card face-down. Suddenly, Tea peered out from under the card.

"What's up, guys," she said after seeing us.

We quickly scrambled to hide her from Yami Bakura's sight.

"Isn't it a little early for Halloween, guys?" she asked. "Wait, why am I dressed like the Magician of Faith?"

"Well…uh…Bakura and Yugi are dueling, but they're, like, ten times our height, and they're fighting for our souls," Joey tried to explain.

"But…Yugi's right here," Tea said.

"Well, the other guy's not really me," Yugi said.

Tea was, understandably, confused.

"It has something to do with the Millennium Items Bakura and Yugi had," I explained. "It's some kind of magic."

"Then, I'm not crazy?" Tea said.

"Not unless we're all going crazy," Yugi said.

"Think of it this way, Tea: there are two Yugis, the cool one up there, and the puny one down here," Joey said.

Yugi fell down in exasperation.

"That's not how it works at all!" he exclaimed fitfully.

"Calm down, Yugi, it's just a joke," Joey said.

"I'll show you who's puny," Yugi said.

He then went up and attacked Yami Bakura's face-down monster.

"Wait!" Yami called out. But it was too late. Yugi had already destroyed the monster.

"Well…uh…nice going," Joey said.

However, Yugi's body was suddenly shocked with electricity. He fell down in pain.

"What a poor move," Yami Bakura laughed. "Attacking an Electric Lizard results in some rather shocking feedback, which little Yugi won't soon forget." Oh…Poor Yugi!

Yami ended his turn by placing one card face-down. Joey and Tristan tried to push Tea under her card.

"Don't bother, you fools, I can see her perfectly well," Yami Bakura said. "Now I have all four of you right where I want you…right on the field, where you're easy prey for my Man-Eater Bug!" He played the card face down.

"M-Man-Eater Bug?" Tea stuttered. "Well, I'm glad I'm a girl."

"Ditto," I agreed.

"What does it do?" Joey asked.

"It can destroy any monster on the field when it's flipped face up," Yugi explained, still twitching from the Electric Lizard's shock.

"Don't worry, we'll destroy that bug before he plays it," Joey said.

"It won't work," Yugi warned. "The moment we attack, it will activate…The only way out of this is what we're standing on." It was Yami's trap card.

"But it requires a sacrifice of a monster," Yugi explained. "Either way, one of us will be destroyed."

"I'll go," Tristan said. "That thing will take one of us out no matter what we do, and at least this way, I'll take it out, too."

However, Joey whacked him in the gut with his sword hilt.

"You just got back from the Graveyard!" he said. He then made a run for the card and held his sword over it. The monster then rose out of the card, with Joey on its back.

"Use the trap card and sacrifice me!" Joey called.

Yami nodded. "I activate the Horn of Heaven!" he called.

Suddenly, both Joey and the Man-Eater Bug disappeared.

_Joey…no…_


	34. Back to Reality, Shadow Game pt 3

(Alea's POV)

"Joey!" I cried.

Tristan turned away. "My best buddy's gone," he said quietly.

"Don't worry, you'll soon be joining him in the Graveyard," Yami Bakura. "You can spend all eternity together."

I fell to my knees. How could he be so cruel? I slammed my fist into the ground. "Damn him," I cried quietly.

"I hope you have no illusions about rescuing Joey from the Graveyard," Yami Bakura said to Yami. "You've already used Monster Reborn, the only way to get him back. Soon the Reaper of Cards will claim his soul forever."

"Poor Joey…he sacrificed himself," Tea said, as she began to cry. "Joey can't be gone."

We all felt her pain. Suddenly, however, one of her tears struck her card and it began to glow.

"What's going on?" Tristan questioned.

"It's the Magician of Faith's special effect," Yugi said. "It allows a player to take one magic card from the Graveyard."

"Then…that means…" I said.

"I choose Monster Reborn," Yami said. "And I'll use it to bring Joey back from the Graveyard."

Just then, Joey reappeared on the field. We all surrounded him.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" I said happily.

"Yeah…you wouldn't believe the Hell I just went through back there," he said.

"I'm sure," I said.

"You're wasting your time and your turn rescuing these foolish mortals," Yami Bakura said irately.

"My friends are never a waste of time," Yami replied. "Make your move." Yami…what a brave man.

Yami Bakura chuckled. "As you wish…this will be the play that will end the match and win me both the Millennium Puzzle and the Millennium Bracelet," he said. "I summon Doma the Angel of Silence in attack mode."

"Oh no! That's Bakura's card!" I exclaimed.

Suddenly, he appeared on the field. He looked around confused. "W…What's going on?" he questioned. "Alea? What happened?"

"I can't explain everything, but that dark spirit in the Millennium Ring is going to try to make you attack us and send us to the Shadow Realm," I said.

"What? There's no way he can make me attack you!" he said. "I won't let him!"

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on using _you _to defeat them," Yami Bakura informed him. He then held up Change of Heart. Ryou's card! There was no way he could use sweet, innocent Ryou to destroy us!

"I can use this to turn Yugi against his comrades," Yami Bakura said.

"No! I refuse to do that!" Yugi exclaimed.

"You won't have a choice," Yami Bakura explained. "Change of Heart allows me to control any one of my opponent's monsters, and I choose Yugi."

"Leave Yugi out of this!" Yami ordered.

"Why shouldn't I?" Yami Bakura said. "By destroying Yugi, I'll destroy you, as well…and you'll all die in despair!"

"Stop this madness right now, you evil bastard!" Bakura growled.

"I assure you, my host, after this is all over you'll be reunited with your friends in the Shadow Realm…along with your little girlfriend."

Bakura looked like he might do something, but he did nothing, knowing that he couldn't do much under Yami Bakura's control. Yami Bakura played Change of Heart. Appearing on the Change of Heart card was Ryou.

"Now, take control of the Dark Magician," Yami Bakura ordered.

Ryou then turned to face him. "You may be able to control my brother, but you cannot control me," he said. "I won't allow you to destroy my friends." He suddenly took control of Bakura, instead.

"You impudent little brat," Yami Bakura growled.

"Yugi…attack me now and win the duel!" Ryou urged.

"No, Ryou! You'll be sent to the Graveyard!" I cried.

"I don't care," Ryou said. "It's better than allowing my own brother to be controlled by an evil spirit."

A few tears fell from my eyes. "No…you can't leave us," I said quietly.

"I doesn't have to end this way," Yami said. I looked to him hopefully. "If the Millennium Ring can pull people's souls from their body's, maybe the Millennium Puzzle can put them back!"

Suddenly, the Millennium Puzzle and Millennium Ring began to glow. In that instant, Bakura was restored to his body.

"Oh…thank goodness," I said. I also heard Ryou beginning to stir. I was relieved to know that they were both alright. And that also meant…that Yami Bakura was now trapped in the card. And it was payback time!

"Yugi, attack him now!" Yami ordered. Yugi then used the Dark Magician's "Magic Blast" to destroy Yami Bakura, sending him to the Graveyard. A bright light suddenly enveloped the field and everything went black…

**About a minute later**

I quickly awakened to the real world. I never thought I would miss it so much. I mean, my dreams with Destria were enough of an escape from it, but that was ridiculous. I then saw Bakura and instantly went to hug both him and Ryou.

"Thank God you two are okay!" I exclaimed, hugging them even tighter.

"Thanks, Alea…but you're…crushing my throat," Ryou said.

"Sorry," I said, letting go of him. "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen you do, Ryou." I said. "You and Bakura. You both stood up against an evil spirit." I must've sounded like a fangirl.

"By the way…where did you get the Millennium Ring, Bakura?" Yugi asked.

"Well, this past Christmas, my father sent it to me from Egypt. Apparently he sent it to me because it had something to do with Duel Monsters," Bakura explained.

"Yeah…that's also what my parents said when they sent me the Millennium Bracelet," I added in.

Joey came right up to me. "How do we know whoever's in your Bracelet isn't evil?" he asked, staring me down.

"I-It's okay. Trust me. I've already met her and she's good," I explained. "And she apparently hates the spirit that is…or _was _in the Millennium Ring. So, no worries."

Just then, Tristan and Tea began to wake up.

"Wow…I just has the weirdest dream that Bakura went totally mental," Tristan said.

Bakura cleared his throat, obviously annoyed. Tristan then jumped up and clung to Tea, who almost immediately pushed him to the ground.

"Quit being such a baby," she said. We all laughed.

"Well, I dreamed that we were dressed like Duel Monsters, and there were two Yugis," Tea said. "But…was it really a dream?"

Bakura, Yugi, and I looked at each other, wondering what to say. We decided not to say anything. Suddenly, we heard a loud scream.

"What was that?" Yugi questioned.

"It sounded like Tsukiko," Joey said. "We should go find her, quickly!"

We all rushed off into the forest…


	35. Duel of Darkness and An Unwanted Guest

(Alea's POV)

When we reached a dueling platform where we thought we heard Tsukiko, we saw her getting off her dueling station, looking absolutely defeated.

"Tsukiko, are you okay?" Yugi asked worriedly.

"You're too late," she said quietly. "I've already been beaten."

We all then caught sight of her opponent. Boy, was I going to have nightmares tonight. He was a huge, super scary-looking guy who looked like one of those demonic clowns you see at Halloween attractions. Also, instead of wearing one dueling glove, he wore two, each with a double row of Star Chips. "Hey, is this sideshow freak giving you a hard time?" Joey asked.

The guy laughed and said, "That's right, just like Pegasus pays me to do. I weed out all the dueling filth on this island and dispose of it."

"So, does that make you a garbage man?" Tristan said.

"It's no joke!" Tsukiko warned. "Panik is one of the island's Eliminators, and if you guys don't get out of here quick he'll do to you what he did to me."

"But…what does 'an Eliminator' mean?" Yugi questioned.

Suddenly, Panik grabbed Tsukiko's arm with the dueling glove on it. It was empty of Star Chips. "This is what it means," he said.

"T-That means…Tsukiko's been disqualified?" I said in shock.

Tsukiko sadly nodded in agreement. "It all happened too fast," she said. "The way he duels…I just lost it."

"This isn't right," Tea said.

Panik just laughed and said, "She was one of my easiest victims yet." He then threw Tsukiko to the ground right in front of us.

"You creep!" Joey shouted. He was about to go beat him up, but Tristan and Bakura held him back.

"Don't do it," Bakura said. "I know how you feel, but that guy's twice your size."

"I can take him!" Joey protested.

"Fists aren't the answer," Yugi said. "Violence won't solve anything. I've dealt with a lot of bullies before, and there's only one way to deal with them."

"What do you mean?" I asked as he walked up to Panik. Just then, it happened again. Yugi changed into Yami. I guess this was going to be a normal thing from here on out.

"Just try your intimidation tactics on me," Yami said. "I don't scare easily, especially when I'm standing up for my friends…I will defeat you and get Tsukiko's Star Chips back."

"I'll eliminate you from the tournament just as I did to her," Panik said.

"Don't listen to him, Yugi. Show him how we deal with thugs like him!" Joey encouraged as they both got on the dueling platforms.

Panik smirked. "This is my lucky day. Pegasus has offered a generous bounty to the Eliminator who defeats Yugi Moto," he said. "I wonder if he'll throw in extra cash for inflicting bodily harm, not that I wouldn't do it for free."

"You better start thinking of other ways to make money, because when I'm done with you, you'll be out of the job," Yami countered.

"I'm not in it for the money," Panik replied. "There's no better thrill than breaking weak duelists like you."

This guy was one serious creep. "Ugh, kick his ass Yugi!" I called out.

"I won't be bullied. I put my heart into dueling and that's why I'll always win against your type, Panik," Yami said. "I wager all my Star Chips versus the eight you took from Tsukiko."

"Star Chips don't mean anything to me," Panik said. "Because when you duel against me you put more than Star Chips on the line."

Suddenly, two shackles came out of Yami's dueling platform and locked him to it. Shortly after, two huge fountains of flames went past him.

"Holy shit!" I yelled. "We have to get him out of there!"

"That's the same thing he used on me," Tsukiko said.

Pretty soon, the flames subsided. "I can see that you're beginning to realize the nightmare you've stepped into," Panik laughed.

"That's friggin' brutal!" I exclaimed.

"Yugi, you have to get down from there!" Joey urged.

However, Yami simply smiled and said, "It will take a lot more than some cheap pyrotechnics to scare me."

"Hmph, the last time someone had the nerve to talk to me like that, I broke him in half," Panik said. "Since my fire didn't phase you, I'll just have to turn down the lights." He then played a card called "Castle of Dark Illusions" and suddenly the entire field was engulfed in darkness. Believe me, after the hell I just went through during the last duel, darkness was starting to seriously freak me right the fuck out.

(As with every other duel, I'm not writing about what happens, as you probably already know)

"Way to kick that guys ass, Yugi!" Joey cheered.

Yami really did show that creep who the real duelist was. Of course, I don't think Panik saw it that way. "I may not have beaten you, but I can still eliminate you!" he said, smashing his fist into the controls for the flame jets, activating all of them and engulfing the entire field in flames.

"Yugi!" we all exclaimed.

However, just as it seemed like he was done for, his Millennium Puzzle began to glow and shielded him from the flames. (Okay, by this point, you know he uses Mind Crush on Panik, but Alea couldn't really hear him over the sound of the flame jets, so I just wrote it out of the dialogue). The flames then turned off and Yami's dueling platform lowered to the ground, where we all gathered around him, relieved.

"That was one hell of duel," I said.

"No kidding," Joey agreed.

"What was that light, anyway? The one that appeared just when those flames were about to hit you," Tristan asked.

"Eh, must've just been a glitch in the virtual system," Joey said. Oh, well, they'd probably find out soon enough, anyway, so no need to confuse them anymore than they probably were.

"Tsukiko, here are your Star Chips," Yugi said.

Tsukiko reached out to take them, but hesitated. "No…I didn't win them, it wouldn't feel right if I took them," Tsukiko said.

"Come on, Tsukiko," Tea urged. "Yugi risked his life to win them for you."

"I know, but…"

"There's no point in arguing," Joey said. "Well, if you'd rather get booted off the island, I guess I'll take them."

However, Tsukiko lightly pushed him to the ground, catching the Star Chips before they went down with him. "I don't think so," she said casually.

"Well, I hope you've learned not to duel creepy guys again," Joey said.

"Who are you, my dad?" Tsukiko questioned. "I was forced to duel him…but thanks anyway."

"I'm such a sensitive guy," Joey gloated.

"Yeah…when you're not being a total pain," Tristan said.

"Which is most of the time," Bakura added. We all laughed.

"Yugi," Tsukiko said. "I'll pay you back for all you've done for me today, because as far as I'm concerned, these Star Chips are still yours. So, when we finally duel, it will be an honorable one." With that, she took off.

_Seriously? She still wanted to go off on her own?_ _Oh well. Her choice, not mine._

(About an hour or two later)

By this time, everyone had gone to sleep. Well, except for me, Yugi, and Bakura. I then noticed that one of the spikes on Bakura's Millennium Ring was pointing toward Pegasus's castle. "Hey, Bakura," Yugi said. "Why is your Millennium Ring doing that?"

"I don't know, but it did the same thing when I got it," Bakura replied. "That time, it was pointing towards Alea's Millennium Bracelet."

"Hmm…It seems as though it's able to zone in on other Millennium Items," Yugi deduced. "And it's pointing towards the castle because of Pegasus's Millennium Eye."

"It's kind of scary," I said. "Pegasus can steal people's souls with his Millennium Eye, and Bakura's Millennium Ring took us to the Shadow Realm…I don't think I'm going to think about it anymore. I'm going to bed."

After putting down my backpack as a pillow, I quickly fell asleep. Of course, I was only able to get about five minutes before I was awakened by the sound and lights of a helicopter. It waked everyone else up, too.

"What gives? I'm trying to sleep, here!" Joey complained.

The helicopter soon landed and we were all surprised to see Seto Kaiba step out, briefcase in hand.

"What's he doing here?" Joey questioned.

"I don't know, but it looks like he means business," Ryou said.

"Yugi," Seto said in his usual monotone voice. "I haven't seen you since our duel."

Yugi nodded and pulled out a deck of Duel Monsters cards. "Here, I saved your deck after dueling the fake Ghost Kaiba," he said. "Think of it as thanks for the duel you helped me win." _Seriously? Kaiba helped Yugi? Yeah, right._

"Thanks," Seto said grudgingly. "You'll be compensated for your trouble." He started to walk away.

"Wait," Yugi said. "Maybe you should stick with us, since we're all headed to Pegasus's castle…Of course, you'll need some Star Chips…" _Over my dead body he was sticking with us! _

"Don't be naïve," Seto said. "This isn't just a game for me. I'm going against Pegasus to save my brother, not so I can win some silly prize. Have fun with your tournament."

"We could've done without the attitude, thank you very much," I mumbled. _Well…as long as he stays the eff away from us. _He started to walk away again when a steamed looking Joey ran up and stopped him.

"Look, I can understand you wanting to get your little brother back, but you can't just go thinking you're the only one with a noble cause," he said. "We've all got something worth fighting for, and if you want a piece of Pegasus, you'll have to just get in line."

I admired Joey's guts, really I did, but I don't think it was enough to shake the ever stone cold Seto Kaiba.

Suddenly, Seto grabbed Joey's wrist and tossed him to the ground. "Uncool, Seto! That was uncalled for!" I shouted.

We went up to check on him. "Relax, I'm fine," Joey said, getting back on his feet.

"I'm not going to let your little tournament delay me from finding Pegasus," Seto said.

"Grr! Forget about Pegasus, now you got me to deal with!" Joey growled. "Get out your cards and let's duel!" I was quite impressed by Joey's bravery…though, I couldn't tell if he was brave or nuts.

"Forget it, Wheeler," Seto said. "You ought to go find an opponent you can actually beat, like an infant…or a monkey." Okay, that was low to say. Not to mention it always pissed Joey off.

"I don't have time for your nonsense, loser," Seto said.

Now Joey was seriously mad. "Oh, yeah, well what about your loss to Yugi, you washed-up has-been?" Joey taunted. "You're such a coward." Uh oh. As incredibly true as this was, Joey was starting to tread dangerous waters now.

"Careful, Joey," I warned. "He may be a creep, but he's still considered the top duelist in the world…and he holds that title in high regards."

"Not anymore," Joey said. That small phrase seemed to have finally gotten to Seto.

"Yeah, ever since Yugi wiped the floor with you, I bet you can't even lay a trap card without flinching," Joey continued. Okay, anymore of this and fists were gonna fly.

"Okay, Joey, I think that's enough insults for one day," I said as Tristan, Bakura, and I tried to stop him.

However, the damage had already been done…


	36. Harsh Words, Cold Feelings

(Alea's POV)

"Fine, I'll duel you, on one condition," Seto said. "We'll use my new holographic dueling system." He held up his briefcase. "It's a new high-tech dueling device that allows players the realism of arena matches in any setting," he explained.

"It looks like just a regular briefcase to me," Joey said.

"Uh, Joey, I think he meant it's _inside _the briefcase," I whispered.

"You moron, it's _in _the briefcase," Kaiba said, opening the briefcase. He took out two disk-shaped objects and tossed one to Joey.

"It looks like a freakin' flying saucer," Joey said. He was right, it did.

"This is the most state-of-the-art display modulator ever built," Seto explained.

Of course, being that I was not too tech savvy (save for with phones, cameras, and a few computer programs) and that I was pretty tired right now, what he just said was like gibberish to me.

"In English, please?" I said, irately.

Seto let out an annoyed sigh. "In other words, it's basically a virtual reality system that can be used anywhere, simple enough for you?" he said.

"Gee, you couldn't have said that the first time?" I scoffed.

"Anyway, Wheeler," he said, turning his attention back to Joey. "If you think you have what it takes to handle it, you should just strap it on."

Joey did so without hesitation. (Of course I'm not going to write the part where Kaiba explains how it works! That's just repetition of what you already know. So, I'll spare you from boring explanation). I sure hoped Joey knew what he was getting himself into. I mean, even I was a bit intimidated by Seto's dueling skills. But even so, that wasn't going to stop me from giving Joey some moral support.

"Hey, Joey," I said.

"Yeah, Lea?"

"…Kick this jerk's ass." He smiled and nodded.

(Skipping the duel!)

Man, I don't think I had ever seen such a merciless beating, even for a card game. Poor Joey seemed devastated at his loss.

"That's right. Stay down like the sniveling, defeated dog you are," Seto mocked. That asshole. What gives him the right to just insult Joey like that?

"Are you alright, Joey?" Yugi asked. He didn't seem to be so.

"I-It'll be alright, Joey," I said in an attempt to comfort him.

"My Duel Disk program has proven quite effective," Seto remarked. "Not only did its stunning realism jar Joey into submission, but now he's moping like a dog with his tail between his legs—which is exactly the way I intend to leave Pegasus."

"You ass!" Bakura protested. "What makes you think you can just crush a person's confidence like that?" He looked like he was about to start a fight with Seto, which was how he often looked when he was either really irritated or really mad at someone. Of course, as always, Ryou held him back.

"Beating Joey doesn't give you the right to humiliate him, Kaiba," Yugi added.

I decided to step in as well. "Maybe you should just stop and listen to why Joey is fighting in this tournament before you go about insulting him," I said. "You obviously have no clue how important the thing Joey's fighting for is, so you have no room to talk. He's fighting for his sister's eyesight! If he loses, she could go blind!" Granted, I barely even knew Serenity, let alone even met her, but I did know her story. Her eyesight was becoming worse and if she didn't receive surgery, she would become blind. Of course, that surgery was expensive and neither he nor his mother had the money for it. The only way they could afford it was if Joey won this tournament.

"Just lay off it, guys," Joey said.

Seto wasn't through, though. "Do you think Pegasus will be any merciful to you than I was?" he questioned. He turned his attention to Yugi. "The 'heart of the cards' may work for you, but I have to duel my own way. I can't risk trying something new—and maybe Joey shouldn't either, unless he likes life as a dog, scrounging on the scraps of past victories and begging for mercy from true duelists." Oh, how I wanted to punch his face in!

"That's not true!" Yugi protested.

"It's the kind of attitude you have to take if you want to stand a chance against Maximillion Pegasus," Seto said, looking towards the castle. "This is the man who created Duel Monsters. He has every card that's ever been made, and mastered every strategy that's ever been played. He always makes sure he has every possible advantage in his favor. If I'm to stand any chance against him at all, I'll have to play by my own ruthless rules. Open your eyes, Yugi—even with your prodigious talents, you'll be defeated like all the others. When Pegasus duels, he uses much more than mere skill."

I really wished Seto had the sense to know that there were a lot of other methods to dueling and winning than just his method. I couldn't name those methods right off the bat, but everyone was different. And quite frankly, Yugi's method never seemed to fail him. I guess I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't hear Seto explaining a duel that Pegasus had with someone where he won by using whatever scary skills he had.

"I don't know how he did it, but I can only hope that my Duel Disk system will give me the edge I need to beat Pegasus," Seto said, packing away his Duel Disks.

"That's still no excuse to take it out on us and use Joey as your guinea pig for your new system," Yugi said. It was as if he had taken the words right out of my mouth.

"This system could be my only way to beat Pegasus, so I had to test it," Seto argued. "This is war, and Joey was a casualty." An unjustified casualty if you ask me. War or no war, it wasn't right on any level for Seto to do what he did.

"Look, we may not agree with each other's methods, but we both understand that Pegasus must be stopped," Yugi said in an attempt to reason with him. "I hope you succeed in rescuing your little brother." Pfft. Yeah, good luck. I normally didn't think like that when it came to stuff like that, especially after the good things I heard about Mokuba, but I was in such a state of disgust with Seto that I didn't think it through.

As he left, Seto turned back and said, "I wish you success, too, but I hope our paths don't cross again." He walked away until he was out of sight. I honestly don't think I've ever held such scorn for someone (with the obvious exception of Michael and Valorie White).

"So…can we go back to bed now?" I questioned. It almost seemed like everyone else was about to collapse from exhaustion, too. "I take that as a yes," I deduced. We went back to our spots and went back to sleep, hoping that nothing else would wake us up again.

I could only imagine what the next day would have in store for us…


	37. Enter the Ghost

(Alea's POV)

I was in a deep sleep, as I always was when I had a long day, resting on my backpack, when all of the sudden I heard someone speaking loudly.

"Wake up, guys!" they said. It sounded like Joey. I stirred awake, though I didn't want to wake up. Everyone else was wide awake before I was.

"What's wrong, Joey?" I heard Yugi ask.

"Nothing," Joey replied loudly. "It's a brand new day, and I'm eager to duel!"

"Well, you don't need to bloody yell about it," Bakura said, irritated. He was about as much of a morning person as I was…which is to say not one at all.

"…just five more minutes," I groaned, still half-asleep.

After a minute of silence I heard Joey yell, "Lea! There's a huge tarantula crawling up your leg!" This was followed by what felt like tiny legs on the bare part of my legs. My eyes shot open and I screamed, jumping up and attempting to brush the thing off of me.

"W-Where'd it go?!" I questioned, terrified.

Joey snickered, "Where'd what go?" I saw him holding a bare branch.

"Ugh! You jerk!" I exclaimed. "You know I have a fear of spiders!"

"Hey, how else was I gonna wake you up?" he said, still snickering. Bakura wacked him upside the head.

"Okay, okay! Never again," Joey responded.

That's when I noticed Tea coming back, Tsukiko's backpack in tow. "Hey, where's Tsukiko?" Joey asked.

"She had to go, but she left this note for Yugi," she said handing the folded piece of paper to Yugi. We gathered around it to see what it said. It read: "I owe you eight Star Chips—Tsukiko."

"I guess you can kiss those Star Chips goodbye," Tristan joked.

"Hey, come on. You know Tsukiko's not like that," Yugi said. "If anything, she does whatever it takes to fulfill a promise."

"And even so, we're still team supreme," Joey said. I think it was something we could all agree on. It was time to start back up again.

"I wonder how many duelists are left," I wondered.

"Not many I would think," Joey said. "They shipped at least a couple dozen home yesterday."

"Yeah, and I guess even more will have been eliminated by now," I said.

"Some of them were really good duelists with powerful cards," Yugi noted. "We could be next."

"But those other guys just wanted to win the prize money," Tristan pointed out. "You two have a lot more at stake."

"I know, but the duelist we face today will be even stronger because they survived the first round," Yugi mentioned.

Joey stopped. "Even stronger?" he repeated.

"Careful what you say, Yugi. Joey's shaking in his sneakers," Tristan teased. Joey put up his fists.

"I'm not a scared little puppy dog!" he shouted. I could tell that they were about to get into it.

"Alright, break it up you two," Tea said. I rolled my eyes. _Boys. _

"Just bring on any duelist, I'll beat 'em," Joey said. At least he always had confidence in himself. We continued walking. After a while, Joey stopped.

"What's wrong Joey?" I asked.

"I think I hear someone following us," he said.

"I think you're just being paranoid," Bakura remarked.

"You've been hyper ever since you woke up this morning," Tristan said. "What's eating you?"

"I swear we're being stalked," Joey insisted.

"I'm going to find what it is." He ran off.

"Joey, wait!" I called. "You don't know what could actually be out there." But he was already gone. Sometimes I wished he wasn't so headstrong. We waited for him to back. We waited a _long _time. Finally, too long had passed for all of us.

"Joey's been gone a long time now," Yugi said worriedly.

"If anything I bet he got himself lost," Bakura deduced.

"Or worse, he could've been challenged to a duel," Yugi said.

"Either way, we should try to find him," I said. "Let's split up." So, we went our separate ways in pairs: Yugi and Tea, Tristan and Ryou, and Bakura and me. After about an hour or so of looking, Bakura and I couldn't find him at all.

"God, where could he have gone off to?" I questioned. "He could be anywhere on this island." I sneezed and let out a cough.

"You're not getting sick again, are you?" Bakura said. "We don't have anything left to help it if you are." He was right. It was allergy season and I was already down to my last bottle of nose spray. And I highly doubted there was a pharmacy on this island.

"I'll be fine," I said. "It's just the cool weather on this island." As I started walking onward, Bakura came up slowly behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He rubbed my arms in an attempt to warm me up. I smiled. He always stayed especially close to me when I was sick…or seemingly becoming sick. After a while, we rejoined the others at a waterfall.

"Look," Tea said, picking up a small leather article that looked like a wallet.

"It's Joey's," Tristan said, instantly recognizing it. Tea opened it to reveal a picture of a young girl in a school uniform. It must've been his sister, Serenity.

"This is so weird," Tristan said. "Joey would never be careless enough to lose this."

"Yeah…there must be some foul play involved here," I said. That's when we all noticed a cave entrance nearby.

"…I don't like the looks of this," I said.

"We have to find Joey," Yugi said. "Let's go." I honestly admired Yugi's bravery. But would it lead us into danger this time? When we entered just inside the entrance to the cave, we were met by a morbid sight: two coffins leaning on opposite sides of the cave walls. "Oh..great.." I said. "Just great."

"But…who would just leave two coffins standing here?" Ryou questioned, approaching one.

"Either someone who has one seriously dark secret, or a twisted sense of humor," I answered, approaching the other.

"Uh..I wouldn't touch those," Yugi warned. "It could be a trap."

"Oh, don't be silly," I said. "What could possibly happen?" As soon as I said that, chains started rattling and the coffins began to open. I wanted to run, but I was frozen with fear. The next thing I know, a skeleton is chasing after me! (ok, I thought it was, but it was really just on my back). Apparently Ryou suffered the same attack.

"Get it off! Get it off!" I screamed, completely freaking out. Luckily, Bakura was able to get it off me, while Tristan got the other off Ryou. I breathed heavy and my heart made it feel like there was a steam hammer in my chest.

"Shit…that was horrible!" I said.

"Pegasus sure has a dark and sick sense of humor," Bakura said.

"Gee, I'll say," I said.

"Come on, guys…let's keep going," Yugi said. "We have to find Joey."

"Right," we all agreed. We proceeded to continue down into the cave. We seemed to be going on for miles through seemingly endless tunnels. In all honesty, I was very afraid. What if we never made it out? Would we just wander around until we met our end here? That's when I noticed something odd.

"Hey…where's Ryou?" I questioned. Everyone got worried.

"We didn't take any turns," Tea pointed out. "So where could he have gone?" That's when we heard a scream that sounded just like Ryou's.

"Ryou!" We called out. That's when he came running into sight. But he wasn't alone. A skeleton hung onto his back. Not thinking straight, we all freaked out and bolted down the tunnel. "G-Get this thing off me!" Ryou screamed, running after us in complete fear.

Eventually, Tristan knocked it off, crushing the skull. "Ok, that's it, no more hitchhikers, guys," Tristan said.

"Is it safe to open my eyes now?" Tea inquired.

"S-Sorry, guys…" Ryou apologized.

"Well, we've got a bigger problem now," Bakura said. I looked up and saw exactly what the problem was. We had reached a fork in the road, a row of skulls as a candle holder in the middle. "But…which way do we go?" Yugi wondered.

"Gee, both ways look _so _inviting," I said in sarcasm.

"I'm in no mood for sarcasm," Tristan said in annoyance. "We have to figure out which way Joey went." _Well, excuse me, but my sarcasm can't be helped in this undesirable situation, Tristan. _As we moved a bit forward, Ryou stumbled a bit.

"Aah! My foot!" he exclaimed. "I stepped on a switch or something."

"Ssh!" Yugi said. "Do you guys here that?" It took a moment, but I soon began to here a rumbling coming from one of the tunnels.

"It's getting louder," Tristan said.

"I think it's coming this way," Tea said.

"But what _is _it?" I questioned. That's when we all saw a giant boulder rolling right towards us. We all freaked out and ran like hell. I was so not in the mood to be in an Indiana Jones situation. Suddenly, Ryou tripped behind us. My heart stopped for a moment. He fell, and just disappeared under the boulder. _Oh no…no no NO! _I was horrified beyond belief, but could only keep running to avoid the same fate. Bakura held tightly to my wrist and pulled me along as we ran. But we soon reached a dead end. _Oh, fuck!_

"That's it! Since we can't run, I'm fighting back!" Tristan shouted, turning to face the boulder. Was he out of his mind? He'd be pulverized before he had a chance!

"Tristan you can't punch out a boulder!" Yugi protested.

"I'm gonna try!" Tristan said. I couldn't watch. He threw his fist at the boulder….and it popped? We all stood there dumbfounded. A…balloon? Seriously?!

"Hey, look…there was a speaker inside," Yugi pointed out. "I bet Pegasus set this up just to scare us." I then remembered Ryou and breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't crushed. I walked over to where he was. Poor guy. He looked completely traumatized. I helped him up. "Come on, Ryou. It was just a fake. You're ok," I told him in a comforting tone.

"Pegasus spared no expense to scare us all half to death," Yugi said.

After a few more minutes of walking, we finally saw a familiar blonde head. "Joey!" we called, running to where he was.

"What the hell are you doing dueling in a graveyard?" Bakura questioned.

"Hey, it's not like I'm here by choice," Joey replied. "Those three creeps ganged up on me and forced me into it!" I looked. Those three "creeps" were the same people that cheated that poor girl out of all her Star Chips in the first duel we saw on this island!

"That's it, this duel is over!" Tristan said. He went to get Joey down, but was blocked by two of the creeps. Tristan went to attack them, but the red-head hit him in the head with a stone, while the black-haired one punched him in the stomach.

"Hey! Hands off my friend!" Joey shouted. He started to get down, when the blonde guy with the bandana said snidely, "Hey, don't forget if you leave this arena, you forfeit the game and all your Star Chips."

"That's not fair! This duel is illegal, anyway!" Tea protested.

"He accepted the duel when he threw down his Star Chips," the guy said. This was so wrong!

"Then, you're just going to have to beat these punks, Joey," Tristan said, getting up from the ground. "And for a little added motivation…" He tossed Joey his wallet, with its photo of his sister Serenity. Joey expression soon became one of determination.

"So what's it gonna be?" the guy questioned. "Are you gonna cut and run, or part with your Star Chips the hard way?"

"That's it! I'm tired of your smart ass attitude!" Joey growled. "Just who the hell are ya, anyway?!"

"The name's Bandit Keith," the guy replied. I recognized the name. Seto Kaiba told us about him the previous night. He was the Intercontinental Champion that lost to Pegasus. No wonder he was trying to cheat Joey out of his Star Chips. The duel resumed.

Things were looking pretty bad for Joey. Bonz had wiped out a huge chunk of his Life Points and he was down to only 150 and with only one monster on the field. That's when Joey pulled a move I didn't expect. He played the magic card Shield in Sword, switching the attack and defense points of all the monsters on the field. This gave his monster enough attack to wipe out all of Bonz's zombies. So, Joey made it out with all his Star Chips intact.

"Now…can we get out of here, please?" I said, after all the congratulations were done. "I can't take any more of this creepy place."

But things in here were far from over…


End file.
